A Bluestem Prairie

DailyKos: McJoan on the FISA Fear Factor

Over at DailyKos, McJoan provides an overview of the story so far in FISA Fight: The Fear Express rolls on. She quotes the Walz response after pointing out pertinent information from an LATimes report:

It's the same false charges, claiming that the lapse of the Protect America Act has meant that "new surveillance against terrorists is crippled." What it doesn't say is that the PAA lapsed because Republicans refused to extend, and even if they had voted to extend it, Bush would have vetoed it anyway. Then there's the whole part about the fact that it's just a lie, that the administration has been forced to admit that no intelligence has been lost and we are thus no less safe than we were before the law expired.

Update: The Liberal Media Elite weighs in.

Walz: a minute about FISA on the floor of the House

See our earlier posts on the ad from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies/Defense of Democracy here, here, here and here.

Tuesday morning news digest: Exile from GOPville edition

The Rochester Post Bulletin editorial board opines Republican disunity can only help Walz. Not true: bloggers are rejoicing over the promise of great material from the GOP wannabe candidates. We have a lot to look forward to. The board writes:

"The end result is that, instead of a GOP candidate setting his sights on Walz on March 30, the 1st District will get to watch two Republicans spend the next five months vying against each other until the Sept. 9 primary."

And speaking for ourselves at BSP, we're grateful for the month remaining until the First Congressional District convention.  We'll miss either Demmer or Davis.

The Owatonna People's Press reports Day exiled from GOP for skipping endorsement.  The article repeats in its sister paper, the Waseca County News. Rumors elsewhere that state GOP chair Ron Carey has called the tip line at ICE to see if Day can be deported are entirely false.

The Spring Grove Herald reports Minnesota Guard troops working to keep peace in Kosovo. Around 400 Minnesota Guard members are deployed to Kosovo.

From the looks of this stub of an article in the Hanska Herald, Ruthie Hendrycks has stopped mentioning her degree from diploma mill LaCrosse University. We also understand that she never did send her "thesis" to the Wege, as promised in the comments here, either.

Pity. We wanted to read Hendrycks' “Domestic Violence and The Mediation Process - Pros and Cons."  We had thought that domestic violence was a crime, not a private matter, since the 1970s at the very least. Looks like we'll never be enlightened now. She has, however, found time to post an article from the John Birch Society's magazine to an online group.

We have discovered that Ruthie might be as confused about Bluestem Prairie as she was about the accreditation of colleges.  She believes that we are Tim Walz's website:

Please note: Mark Meyer has dropped out of Cong District 1 race - this leaves four candidates. MINNSIR supports Brian Davis or Dick Day for this seat. A clarification of one candidate is forthcoming early next year following an upcoming survey to find out exactly where they stand and to allow you to make your choice.  However, note Tim Walz has this trash posted on his website.

(see links directly below)

Please

http://www.bluestemprairie.com/a_bluestem_prairie/2007/12/morillo-alicea.html 

http://www.bluestemprairie.com/a_bluestem_prairie/2007/12/pb-editorial-do.html 

Bluestem Prairie is an independent blog that is not part of Congressman Walz's campaign or congressional office. She can find Tim Walz's congressional site here and his campaign site here.  We hope she will share the facts of her confusion with her membership.

Her confusion is only matched by California Minuteman Ron Branstner's belief that more that one person writes our posts, given our annoying use of the editorial first person "we."  Our readers can sleep soundly at night knowing that all posts over the blog de plume "Ollie Ox" are written by one person.

Hendrycks might also share this news with the Brown County GOP Convention on Saturday, where she will be promoting her candidacy for the State House. GOP Congressional contenders Davis, Day, and Demmer will be there, as well as State Senator Dennis Frederickson, who had the decency to vote for the transportation bill. Should be a lively gathering.

Those scolding Denny won't get any help from the New Ulm Journal editorial board which believes Legislature did the right thing for state roads.

Meanwhile, down in Worthington, the Globe reports Farmers await new Farm Bill.  And many of the very small towns with straight pipe sewer problems are in Southern Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports in Archaic sewage lines tainting lakes, rivers.

Discussion of the Defense of Democracy ad was all over the netroots. Phoenix Woman took a look in Pounding The Table. Open Left looks at Democratic board members' resignations in The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. The Muckraker at TPM examined the FDD's press release in   Group Launches Ads Pressuring Dems on Surveillance Bill.

The Blue Mass Group looked at the New England version of the ad in Tag Team: Right Wing & Telecomms Take on Congress?

Sure enough, we found that the National Association of Manufacturers had blogged about Today's Surveillance Developments... and over at the conservative National Review Corner, the FDD's ace debater mocked Tim Walz for serving 24 years in the Coast Guard in More Palaver from House Obstructionists on Intelligence Reform. Perhaps First District national security maven Tom Maertens will take on this tool.

 Our friend McPherson Hall at Minnesota Central asks  A Question for John Kline :Are Comic Books Pork Barrel Spending ? He finds a Bush earmark for comic books about Iraqi security forces. 

If only Captain America were still alive! The private sector could underwrite the expense, and NRO shills for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies could go back to scolding Marvel Comics for endangering America's national security.

Has Rep. Engle resigned from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies?

According to a source in the ACLU, Rep Eliot Engle (D-NY) has officially resigned from his position on the Board of Advisors of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in response to the ad that its newly-hatched ally, Defense of Democracies has run in Minnesota Fighting First and other districts. We are looking to confirm this news.

Defense of Democracy ad: the remix

Over at Ron Amundson's Political Blog, the recovering Republican provides a script for a suggested remix of the  pro-telecom ad in An aggravating commercial, but it is free speech:

• (Music ramps up)
• Midnight.
• February 16th.
• The law that lets the phone companies off the hook expires….
• Senate Democrats and Republicans vote overwhelmingly to protect the phone co.
• But the House refuses to vote on H.R.3773 (as amended by the Senate) and instead….
• want to protect the lives of American citizens AND their civil liberties.
• So the phone company looses
• Tell the House of Representatives to do its job and continue to block the Senate’s Terror Surveillance Bill. FISA must be updated based upon todays technology, AND it must also protect the civil liberties of American Citizens.

Nice work!  Head on over to Ron's blog and check out the rest of the post, looking at Obama and the Senate FISA bill.  Stop by the comments, too, and tell him Ollie sent you.

Those who haven't seen the ad can check out the DD's generic version here. Sorry, we can't post it directly as DD has disabled the embed feature.  They've also disabled the ratings and the comments; guess the group doesn't want anyone to know what the reaction is to the ad.

[Afternoon update]: Amundson has discovered that the FDD has challenged Walz to a duel debate.  The district blogger observes about the FDD's response:

What I find odd though, is that certainly Tim Walz is aware of this, citizenry who follow such arena’s in legislation are aware of this…. and yet the [FDD's blog  author left it out. Sure, its spin, but to what audience. Certainly not to those who he is likely to dialog with, nor those who have been following such legislation. It likely will serve just to aggravate them, rather than to engage…. And I think wide scale engagement and discussion of the rather complex issues is the key to resolving how best to move forward. Few will sacrifice liberty for safety. Many will be outraged to sacrifice safety for the phone company, or for a 30 year old law. Thus, all parties have very much the same goal in mind, the problem is how to get there. Spin may work forsome, but not very well for the concerned and informed citizen. Tim Walz was right, congress and the executive branch had time to work this out. There is no reason to let things slide. The end goal is too important. [end afternoon update]

Update: We're starting to find more posts about the ad. Looks like the first one up at bat was a Pittsburgh-area diarist at DailyKos ( Jason Altmire-D). My Left Nutmeg's Fear Ad on TV must be Countered (Joe Courtney- D-CT) has a remix.  Help me Obi Wan Pelosi, indeed!

See our earlier posts on the ad itself here, here, here and here.

Update: Defense of Democracy is new group

The ad attacking Tim Walz for standing firm on the RESTORE Act looks to be even more shady in light of new information reported by the Owatonna People's Press.  Investigations by reporter Jeff Cagle reveal that the ads are not sponsored by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, as we had thought yesterday, but by a new group formed just last week, Defense of Democracy. However, the two entities do seem to be related in terms of shared staff.

Cagle reports:

Wise said the group was formed last week in response to the House's refusal to bring up the bill.

Now, that impetus makes targeting Walz specifically to be very dicey. Walz voted against the temporary  extension of the PAA, as he wanted to bring the issue to the floor rather than to punt before the Presidents Day break:

Today, Congressman Tim Walz voted against a 21-day extension of the “Protect America Act” because he believed America’s national security needs were too pressing to kick the decision down the road yet again. The Protect America Act, which passed in August, is temporary legislation that modernizes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to account for new intelligence-gathering technology in the fight against terrorism. President Bush and Congressional leadership on both sides of the aisle failed in the last six months to produce a permanent bill that adequately balances national security needs and civil liberties.  At the end of January, the temporary legislation was extended by 15 days through procedural maneuvering.  Today’s vote on an additional 21-day extension represents the second attempt by Congress to delay action on these important national security issues.
 
“The American people are demanding that Democrats and Republicans work together in Washington, DC to change the priorities and get things done,” said Walz. “I can not in good conscience support another band-aid to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that just keeps kicking tough decisions on this issue down the road for consideration another day,” said Walz.  “National security is too important. Let’s fix the bill now and not wait any longer.” 
 
In August of 2007, Walz supported the Protect America Act that made temporary changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to give leaders in both parties time to develop needed, long-term reform that brings accountability to the process and respects individual civil liberties.  In October of 2007, Walz wrote to the Chairmen of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees urging them to make needed changes (click here to read the letter). 
 
“In my classroom, when I was a teacher there were clear due dates for every homework assignment and there were consequences for not turning it in on time.  Congress assigned itself the task of updating FISA by the end of January, and today that important responsibility has been left unfinished,” said Walz. “I urge my colleagues to forego the scheduled congressional recess next week and to go back to work on a bill that protects America’s national security interests.”

We think Walz is correct on this one: the attack is coming because he's a Democrat and because of his stance against granting retroactive immunity, not because of a concern for imminent danger.

Moreover, Brian Wise is listed at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies website as Director of Media Relations, so there's probably a connection between the two outfits.

Cagle closes with Walz's observations:

Bush has promised to veto any bill without retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies.

Walz expects the House to bring up the issue again this week. The only difference is that they want to modernize FISA to safeguard civil liberties.

"If [Defense of Democracy] really wanted to try and educate me on this, they would put out factual information on this and not blatantly lie," Walz said.

KEYC-TV has more in Congressman Walz Strikes Back, notably outlining what the problem is:

The debate over renewing and modernizing the act is over balancing privacy and personal liberties with surveillance methods

Target update:  Other Freshman Dems targeted that we know of so far: Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy (CT); Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes (NH); Jason Altmire (PA); Ron Klein and Tim Mahoney (FL); Gabrielle Giffords and  Harry Mitchell (AZ); Jerry McNerney (CA); Melissa Bean (IL); Joe Donnelly (IN); Nancy Boyda (KS); Michael Arcuri and Kirsten Gillbrand (NY) ; Steve Kagan (WI). 

Update: While we were in scenic Courtland, Minnesota, admiring Sage Elizabeth--a truly beautiful baby girl--Minnesota Central was hard on the trail of DoD, finding its blog. All the dots are connected; as we concluded, DoD is a spin-off of FDD. MC had found evidence that the ad in running against Altmire. In Massachusetts, another blogger reports seeing an ad attacking an unnamed congressman in Connecticut in Tag Team: Right Wing & Telecomms Take on Congress.  We're thinking it might be freshman Chris Murphy.Left Nutmeg reports it's Joe Courtney.

Second update:  A reader from New Hampshire notes in our comments section: 

They are also running this against Carol Shea-Porter here in New Hampshire.

I looked at their website...non-partisan, my Aunt Fanny!  Can't anything be done to shut down these liars, or to at least require that each of their ads be vetted by some truly non-partisan group before it can be aired?

Monday update: We have posted more on the ad; read the Ron Amundson remix script here.

ACLU: FISA and the Fear Factor

We've been making queries about FISA issues as well as the FDD  Defense of Democracy ad running in the First.* One online friend  passed along "The Fear Factor: Playing politics with domestic surveillance bill," a statement by Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. It contains a fairly substantial discussion of some details in the battle over retroactive telecom immunity.  Here's what she said:

“In an attempt to get sweeping powers to wiretap without warrants, Republicans are playing politics with domestic surveillance legislation. The president is saying he does not want the courts to have any say in whether telecommunications companies acted illegally when they turned over private information to the government. As usual, the Bush administration is trying to insulate its activities from public scrutiny, this time by trying to keep the telecommunications providers out of court for illegal actions.

“The ACLU’s plaintiffs are not in it for money; they want the truth to come out. They deserve their day in court against companies that were supposed to keep their information private. Let the courts decide. Have some faith in the U.S. justice system Mr. President. If the companies did not break any laws, why would they need immunity?

“Instead of trying to work on a compromise on what they claim is vital legislation, Republican lawmakers are refusing to even come to the table to do the hard work of negotiation. Instead, Republicans want the House to accept the unconstitutional Intelligence Committee bill passed by the Senate, without change. The ACLU once again commends the House for refusing to yield to administration fear-mongering. This bill, S. 2248, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act of 2007, would grant the administration unfettered access to all communications coming in to or out of the United States without any meaningful court review or finding of wrongdoing. In addition, it would grant complete immunity to companies that cooperated with illegal wiretapping over the last several years. 

“Also, in a ploy to get the House to cave in on the immunity issue, the White House agreed this week to show the full House Judiciary Committee legal documents related to its warrantless domestic surveillance program. This agreement to show a few members of Congress some of the documents comes after years of stonewalling. 

“The president is claiming that without the Senate intelligence bill American’s lives are in danger, and yet, they threaten that the president will veto any legislation that doesn’t give immunity to the telecommunications companies. So if you believe their false assumption that the Intelligence Committee’s bill will save lives, then they are saying that giving a break to the telecommunications companies is more important than saving American lives.

“As House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and the Cato Institute noted, America is in no danger from the expiration of this unconstitutional law. Orders issued since last August remain in effect until their internal cease date, up to a year after issuance, ensuring that current surveillance programs will continue, in some cases, into 2009. These programmatic orders are not limited to individuals or facilities so that new targets can be tapped under existing orders. Of course, the government always has the option of tapping targets immediately and returning to court within 72 hours to obtain an order under the FISA procedures that have served our intelligence community well for nearly 30 years. 

“Congress should take the time to craft a bill that gives the intelligence community only the narrow authority it needs to track terrorists abroad while protecting the privacy of people in the United States. It is critical that Congress does not repeat the mistakes made last August when it gave the executive branch the ability to conduct mass, untargeted surveillance, unconnected to suspected terrorists, with no limit on how American information can be used. The House of Representatives has already taken the first step towards restoring our rights by letting the Protect America Act sunset. It would be a travesty, if after making this courageous move, Congress ultimately decided to pass a bill that substantially replicated that overreaching authority. 

“The government’s legitimate interest in protecting the nation against terrorism can be accommodated without sacrificing the constitutional liberties that make the United States worth defending.

“Any new surveillance law should give the government the tools it needs but also ensure that:

o        Government surveillance is subject to meaningful judicial oversight. 

o        Government surveillance is directed at suspected terrorists, not at innocent people.

o        Government surveillance is targeted at individuals and does not constitute an indiscriminate dragnet.

o        Where government surveillance sweeps up the communications of innocent people, the information gathered is – except in a narrow and clearly defined category of contexts – destroyed rather than disseminated.

o        Congress should not deny Americans their day in court against the telecommunications companies to vindicate their rights. No immunity for the telecommunications providers.” 

For more information: www.aclu.org/fisa

Residents in the First who are concerned about privacy and civil liberties--and who don't want newly-hatched special interest groups from Washington D.C. trumping their own best interest-- should contact Congressman Walz's offices and tell him to stay strong on his position against retroactive immunity and his vote for the RESTORE Act. 

Even if you've contacted him before, he needs to hear your objections to the Senate version of the bill. Here's the district contact information:

Office of Rep. Tim Walz
227 E Main Street, Suite 220
Mankato, MN 56001
507-388-2149

Office of Rep. Tim Walz
1134 7th Street NW
Rochester, MN 55901
507-206-0643

*However, Brian Wise is listed at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies website as Director of Media Relations, so there's probably a connection between the two similar sounding organizations.

Walz responds to scare tactic issue ad on FISA

Some days, it's just about impossible to get out the door and off to places where we're supposed to be. However, the push by an outside interest group to whip up an ill-informed and fear-driven froth in the First about FISA demands our attention on this lovely, sunny day when we'd rather be out and about.

Even more than his war funding votes, Walz received scathing (and in our view justified) criticism of his vote for the PAA and his defense of it back in August. Local papers, national security experts, and the netroots together scolded him for his vote and explanation. We heard him tell a public meeting that he got more calls about FISA than he did the birth of his son, Gus, about three weeks before Election Day, 2006.

Update:  Walz's response--as Archer Dem has noted in the comments--has prompted Matt Stoller at Open Left to ask, Should We Remove Tim Walz from the Bush Dog List?. Interesting answers in the comments section. Stoller ends up answering no, but his rejection of his own idea is based on Walz's vote not to extend the current bill. Stoller doesn't examine Walz's explanation of his "No" vote (which is noted below in the February 13, 2007 news release so we wonder why Stoller missed it the first time); rather, he assumes that it was to favor the Republican position--presumably, the A-list blogger will get out the pitchforks for Kucinich on his no vote, too.[end update].

A later vote, less noted by his critics, was the one he cast for the RESTORE Act in November; the RESTORE Act was the House's attempt to fix the objectionable parts of PAA. The differences between the RESTORE Act and the Senate spying bill are at the core of the present hostilities.

Some national bloggers have been doing the heavy lifting in the battle. We recommend the EFF's Deeplinks, the ACLU's work here, Firedoglake's Empty Wheel and this video at Crooks and Liars. On the right, there's an attempt to spin this into an anti-trial lawyer talking point. There's a bogeyman under every bed for these folks.

Now Congressman Walz has issued a statement about the issue ad:

"This ad is reckless with our national security. Implying that America's surveillance against terrorists is crippled is a lie. What's worse, this group has encouraged terrorists to think our country's surveillance system is weak, when nothing could be further from the truth. Why on earth would any group go on television and claim that America's intelligence agencies can't do their job?"

As a result of recent court rulings, special-interest lobbying groups like this one now have the ability to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to say whatever they want through paid advertising to advance their political agenda. "

This lobbying group's so-called 'issue ad' is a new low," added Walz. "Citizens in southern Minnesota aren't fooled by this fear-mongering but they do deserve to know who is behind this shadowy organization and where they are from."

Prior to this Congressional recess, Walz urged the President and Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle to stay in Washington and reach an agreement to permanently modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), properly balancing the government's intelligence gathering needs with safeguarding the very liberties that millions of Americans have fought and died for.

"As a 24 year veteran of the National Guard, I understand better than this group that this is a dangerous world," concluded Walz. "My message to those terrorists who seek to do our country harm is: We still have the tools in place to intercept and disrupt what you may be planning --and we can act lightning fast -- because there is no disagreement in our country about protecting the America people."

The following FACT CHECK: The Truth about the Reckless “Defense of Democracies” TV Ad accompanied the statement. See some of our other posts on the ad from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies/Defense of Democracy here, here and here.

Reckless claims made in the ad…	The Truth
“Midnight. February 16th. The law that lets intelligence agencies intercept Al-Qaeda communications . . . expires.”	1. The extension, called the Protect America Act expired, leaving the original 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act still intact. [Letter from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes to President Bush, 2.14.08] 2. Additionally, authority granted under the Protect America Act continues for an additional year to ensure Americans are well-protected. [Reyes, 2.14.08]
“Senate Democrats and Republicans vote overwhelmingly to extend terrorist surveillance.”	1. Months earlier, the House passed the RESTORE Act, which also extended surveillance of terrorist targets without granting retroactive immunity to lawbreaking telecom companies. [Blue Stem Prairie, 11.15.07] 2. The Senate bill provides retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies for participating in President’s illegal wiretapping efforts. [Washington Post, 2.16.08]
“But the House refuses to vote and instead goes on vacation.”	1. The House rejected an extension to the temporary Protect America Act. [Roll no. 54, 191-229] 2. The House balked at retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies and sought to work out the differences between the Senate bill and the House-passed RESTORE Act. [Washington Post, 2.16.08] 3. Walz called upon President Bush and Congressional leadership to put aside partisan differences and remain in Washington to work out a new bill. [Walz, 2.13.08]
“So new surveillance against terrorists is crippled.”	1. “Today, the National Security Agency has the authority to conduct surveillance in at least three different ways, all of which provide strong capability to monitor the communications of possible terrorists.” [Reyes, 2.14.08]
“Tell Tim Walz that Congress must do its job and pass the Senate’s terrorist surveillance bill to keep us all safe.”	1. Walz did his job by challenging his colleagues to stay in Washington and work out a long-term, bipartisan solution. [Walz, 2.13.08]  2. We have been, and continue to be protected by our nation’s intelligence gathering agencies who are using the 1978 FISA law and existing authority granted under the Protect America Act to keep us safe. [NY Times, 2.14.08] 3. Yesterday, House and Senate Democrats met to work out a compromise. Republicans and the White House refused to come to the table. [Pelosi 2.22.08]
Photo of Congressman Tim Walz. Caption: “Tell Rep. Tim Walz. 507-206-0643

FISA: the script for the Defense of Democracy ads running in MN-01

We have obtained a copy of a script of a generic Foundation for the Defense of Democracies/ Defense of Democracy* ad similar to the one tailored to the First  mentioned in our last post. The one now running in Minnesota's First replaces the generic "Call Congress" contact info with a command to call Congressman Walz and lists his Rochester congressional office.

One curious wrinkle the ad doesn't point out to the viewers it tries to frighten: Walz voted with the Republicans against an extension of the PAA. Instead, he wanted to stay in Washington and finish work on the replacement. One thing in the Senate version that Walz has said will not support in retroactive immunity for telecoms.

As we learn more about DD's media buy, we'll let our readers know. Meanwhile, First District residents who want Congressman Walz to stand strong should call his Rochester office and ask that he not buckle in to scare tactics.

*Update (edited): The Owatonna People's Press is reporting that a newly-hatched group called "Defense of Democracy" is actually the sponsor of the ad. See our post about it here. However, Brian Wise is listed at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies website as Director of Media Relations, so there's a connection between the two outfits.

See some of our other posts on the ad from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies/Defense of Democracy here, here and here.

 

FISA extension fails; Walz votes against it

The national netroots are of two minds about a "no" vote on the extension:  a "no" could signal a willingness on a House Democrat's part to cave in to the Senate bill or a determination  to the let the six-month temporary bill expire.

Here's Walz's rationale:

Walz calls for immediate action to address national security issues and permanently fix legislation

(Washington, D.C.) - Today, Congressman Tim Walz voted against a 21-day extension of the "Protect America Act" because he believed America's national security needs were too pressing to kick the decision down the road yet again. The Protect America Act, which passed in August, is temporary legislation that modernizes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to account for new intelligence-gathering technology in the fight against terrorism.  President Bush and Congressional leadership on both sides of the aisle failed in the last six months to produce a permanent bill that adequately balances national security needs and civil liberties.  At the end of January, the temporary legislation was extended by 15 days through procedural maneuvering.  Today's vote on an additional 21-day extension representsthe second attempt by Congress to delay action on these important national security issues.

"The American people are demanding that Democrats and Republicans worktogether in Washington, DC to change the priorities and get things done," said Walz. "I can not in good conscience support another band-aid to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that just keeps kicking tough decisions on this issue down the road for consideration another day," said Walz.  "National security is too important. Let's fix the
bill now and not wait any longer." 

In August of 2007, Walz supported the Protect America Act that made temporary changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to give leaders in both parties time to develop needed, long-term reform that brings accountability to the process and respects individual civil liberties.  In October of 2007, Walz wrote to the Chairmen of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees urging them to make needed changes.  A copy of the letter is attached. 

"In my classroom, when I was a teacher there were clear due dates for every homework assignment and there were consequences for not turning it in on time.  Congress assigned itself the task of updating FISA by the end of January, and today that important responsibility has been left unfinished," said Walz. "I urge my colleagues to forego the scheduled congressional recess next week and to go back to work on a bill that protects America's national security interests."

"My challenge to the Democratic party is that we must find the political courage to challenge head on any politician who uses fear mongering on national security for pure political motives," said Walz. "The American people have not only lost patience in President Bush's overblown rhetoric on this issue, they have grown increasingly distrustful of his arguments."

Walz's letter asks for a fix with protection of individual civil liberties and no retroactive immunity for telecoms. Here's the letter: fisaltpdf.pdf

We'll see if he keeps his promises to vote no on any bill that doesn't achieve those objectives. If he doesn't hang tough on the provisions of the RESTORE Act that aren't in the Senate bill, that caving in will deserve wide rebuke.

Update: TPM Muckraker has the list of Dems voting against the extension--from Dennis Kucinich to Leonard Boswell.

Saturday mid-afternoon news digest: kiss kiss bang bang edition

Minnesota 2020 recommends buying Minnesota-made products for your sweetie on Valentine's Day and provides a Made in Minnesota Gift Guide to help you do just that. Bluestem Prairie will happily accept Minnesota-made chocolate, Shakers rose vodka, and other items from our adoring readers if they ask us if we want anything three times in the time-honored Minnesota custom. We wouldn't be calling these things gifts now, don't you know.

Now the bang bang part of the picture: Tim Walz campaigned in 2006 as a gun rights supporter, receiving an "A" from the NRA-ILA (Gutknecht, as the incumbent with a good record, was endorsed).

Now the Star Tribune reports in Controversial gun law is now a target that Walz, along with rural DFL congressmen Peterson and Oberstar, have signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief in the case of District of Columbia (D.C.) and Mayor Adrian Fenty v. Dick Anthony Heller. While many of our progressive friends disagree, we too support gun rights.

The Worthington Globe reports Walz to host energy summit in Windom on Monday morning. The summit is free and open to the public. We posted details and directions here.

Speaking of details and directions, the Winona Daily News reported 3 congressional candidates criticize Walz at WSU forum. The lead:

The U.S. military must avoid setting a firm timetable for leaving Iraq, said three Republicans vying to challenge Democratic Rep. Tim Walz in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District.

Brian Davis, Randy Demmer and Dick Day were at a candidates’ forum Thursday night at Winona State University, sponsored by the College Republicans. . . .

. . . “We need to maintain the political will to see this thing through,” said Demmer, a state representative from Hayfield.

A withdrawal date “is the same thing as announcing a date of surrender,” said Davis, a Mayo Clinic doctor from Rochester.

Day — a state senator from Owatonna — was the only candidate to speak specifically of withdrawal, saying he doesn’t envision “a permanent occupation” of Iraq.

“We know it will wind down … but we need to be tough,” said Day, who added that “we all should be nervous” about terrorist attacks after the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The WDN doesn't give a head count, but a friend who was there reports taking attendance: "Sixteen of the most die--hard Republicans from the community, and twenty students."

Perhaps the adoring throngs were misdirected by the subject line for the email sent out by Brian Davis's campaign:

Subject: Congressional Candidate Forum Tomorrow Night in Rochester!

This information might have made it difficult  for potential audience members to locate Winona State University.

KTTC-TV reports that the stimulus package is Signed, Sealed, and Delivered. The station asks Walz where the money's coming form.  He answers:

Everybody we talked to in Rochester seems pretty excited about this rebate check, but most people we talked to had no idea where it was coming from.

Here's what Representative Tim Walz had to say, "This is adding to the debt so if they really want to take this to the logical conclusion then they're borrowing from their children to fix an economic downturn that's been caused by the last seven years of this administration."

Seeing that much money show up in your mailbox might seem like a good idea, but Representative Walz says, it's really a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

Walz says, "It should take a little of the sting off, but I don't want to portray this as any type of silver bullet or magic solution because it's not; but if it allows people to get a little breather before we starting making the changes needed to bring our economy back then that's a good thing."

The Rochester Post Bulletin asks Will stimulus rebate stir you to spend?  Walz is mentioned. Speaking of money, the PB says Walz, Kline build up sizable cash reserves.

The paper also reports Loved ones mourn St. Charles teenager killed on a bad stretch of Highway 14 during icy conditions. She was 17.

 The New Ulm Journal editorial board writes in McCain wins delegates, but not their hearts:

But while McCain has won a lot of delegates, he still hasn’t won the heart of the party’s main core, the conservatives. McCain has strayed too many times from the conservative fold on different issues for die-hard conservatives to forgive him, let alone feel comfortable with him. Ann Coulter, the conservative pit bull, actually said she’d vote for Hillary Clinton before she’d vote for McCain.

. . . So what does that mean for Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has been fluttering around McCain on several campaign stops and is considered a possibility to become McCain’s running mate?

Pawlenty became a conservative darling after balancing the state’s $4.5 billion budget deficit early in his career without raising income taxes. That reputation suffered a little when the governor had to accept an increase in the tobacco tax — er, user fee — in the last state budget.

But conservative credentials aside, does Pawlenty have a big enough name and appeal to win over the likes of Coulter? We suspect McCain will be looking for someone with more appeal — someone along the line of Romney, if he and Romney can heal the bruises they’ve given each other.

We also wonder if Pawlenty will be looking to burnish his conservative reputation by being extra tough on DFLers and less willing to compromise in the coming legislative session. If so, it could be another of the sessions Minnesotans have come to experience and loathe over the past few years.

Mid-day news digest: warming up for the weekend edition

In an op-ed column, Attorney General Lori Swanson writes Time to put railroads under anti-trust. The article mentions two pieces of legislation Representative Walz is supporting:

A bill introduced in Congress — the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act — would remove the antitrust exemption for the railroads, and hopefully begin a process where our nation’s railways will become more responsive to the needs of our economy.

The Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act is co-sponsored by a number of Minnesota public officials, including Reps. Collin Peterson and Tim Walz, and Sen. Norm Coleman.

Another bill — the Railroad Competition and Service Improvement Act — co-sponsored by Reps. Jim Oberstar, Jim Ramstad, Betty McCollum, Walz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, attempts to breathe new life into the regulatory authority of the STB.

Rail customers who lack access to competitive rail transportation face higher rates and inadequate service. Ultimately, the price is passed on to all of us as consumers. The Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act merits our support, because those who fail to remember the lessons of history are bound to repeat its mistakes.

The Winona Daily News picks up the story of Walz's SOTU guest in National Child Protection Training Center leader, Walz headed to Washington.  Some tidbits:

“I’ve asked Mr. Vieth to join me at the State of the Union to draw attention to the important work the center is doing on behalf of children and families,” Walz said. “I’d like my colleagues to know more about the important work the center does to end child abuse and give our children every opportunity to reach their full potential in life.”

Vieth, a WSU graduate, said the invitation was an honor for himself and those who are involved with the center.

“There’s almost no political gain it seems for someone to advocate for funding to prevent child abuse, and that’s why this honor is so special,” said Vieth. . . .

. . .Along with Sens. Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar, Walz helped secure $1.2 million in federal earmarks for the center in 2008.

Meredith Salsbery, Walz’s communication director, said Vieth’s invitation to the address will likely be followed by others in the future in an effort to focus on innovative projects in southern Minnesota.

Student leaders at Chatfield High write a letter to say Racial incident not representative.  A black baby doll was found hanging from a noose in the school.  Here's what student leaders have to say:

Students attending Chatfield High School have been very upset about the recent events regarding racial discrimination.

As senior representatives of our school, we feel that these actions are not a reflection of the student population as a whole. The majority of students here are open-minded and accepting of people of all cultures. It is simply the acts of a few individuals who have tarnished our good reputation.

Although this is the first significant display of racial discrimination, we are aware that this has been an issue in the past. Such behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the student population here in Chatfield. We are working to address this issue in the school and promote awareness throughout the community. We are also upset with the way the media has wrongly portrayed the views of all students here. . . .

There's been a lot of discussion of superdelegates. Congressman Walz is one, but he has yet to choose the presidential candidate he will support.  He's not alone according to the Strib.  State's politicians not rushing to pick sides notes that in the state's House delegation, Michele Bachmann, Collin Peterson, Jim Ramstad and John Kline also have not made their preferences known (the GOP doesn't have superdelegates, thought the members of the RNC are convention delegate).

Stirring the pot: odds and ends

Having roasted a fresh turkey for yesterday's supper, we are now enjoying the final ten hours of simmering the carcass down to broth. What better thing to do on a cold January day in Minnesota? Here are some odds and ends to tide you over while we stir the pot.

At News Cut, Bob Collins looks at the Chatfield High School incident in Noose news. Collins observes:

Blink. Blink. A student who has used racial slurs and had a white supremacist poster on his locker didn't realize hanging a black doll in a noose would be a racial act?

The veteran newsman has a point.

Phoenix Woman says Robert Greenwald Has A Message For Us On MLK Day.

Via PW, we learn of a DailyKos diary that contrasts Democratic versus Republican turnout in presdiential primaries and caucuses:

IOWA: 236,000 Democrats and 119,000 Republicans

NEW HAMPSHIRE: 284,000 Democrats and 233,000 Republicans

MICHIGAN: 593,000 Democrats and 867,000 Republicans (NOTE: Republicans had a primary with delegates at stake. Democrats did not)

NEVADA: 114,000 Democrats and 43,000 Republicans.

No wonder why the moderator at the recent GOP candidate forum in Rochester spends so much time imploring the audience to work hard in the coming campaign.  We found this video at Brian Davis's YouTube outpost.  Judging by the renewed invitation by high school senior Ian Cameron, he'll be lucky if all the candidates show up for debate at Mayo High. Seems like Dick Day had yet to accept the invitation on the 10th.

If Dick Day actually owned and used a computer, we might think that his tardiness had something to do with accepting an invitation to debate from a young man who is listed as the online coordinator for Brian Davis's Facebook campaign. So far, 42 people have joined.

Neither Dick Day nor Randy Demmer have set up Facebook pages, though we must admit to being reluctant to look too far into the 500+ groups that come up when we search for "Dick Day."  Congressman Walz's group has 546 members. Should Davis gain the endorsement, we anticipate both groups getting larger.

Cameron was in the pipeline to page in Congress at the recommendation of Gil Gutknecht, but the opportunity was in doubt until Walz graciously allowed it to go forward.

Congressman Walz was at Pheasant Fest on Saturday, along with a lot of other people. KAAL-TV reports More Than 29,000 Turn Out for Pheasant Fest 2008.  The event's sponsor, Pheasants Forever, gained 2000 new members.  In a winter like this one, the non-native birds will need a little help. Does your local chapter have a feeding project? Habitat conservation and maintenance volunteer opportunities?  Check it out.

The Corner House Comments wonders Why did the Buffalo cross the road? We asked the same question when we read the account of a bison-vehicle accident near Blue Mounds State Park. The driver escaped without injuries, but the buffalo was not so fortunate.

Update:  Speaking of unfortunate incidents, it's truly too bad that Gary Gross doesn't understand what an editorial is.  Mr. Wikipedia can help out:

An editorial is a phrase or article by a news organization newspaper or magazine that expresses the opinion of the editor, editorial board, or publisher. An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite editorial due to the tradition of newspapers placing such materials on the page opposite the editorial page, is similar in form and content to an editorial, but represents the opinion of an individual contributor, who is sometimes but not always affiliated with the publication. These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably by the public, although it is important to understand that they have different definitions and characteristics.

Letters to the editor are just what their name suggests. And the URL of the WDN link provided ends in /2008/01/17/opinion/letters/00letters0117.txt.   

Gross might wish for his readers to think he's quoting the editorial opinion off one of the First District's dailies, but he's just linking to yet another epistle to the wayward Winonans--who've been voting for Democrats for awhile now--from the effusive pen of Republican reader Stan Gudmundson repeating the NRCC's talking points.

Disclosure: While we do own a red LeCreuset stock-pot, it is only an 8-pt vessel; we're actually cooking with our white 12-qt pot today. And yes, Charlie, that's a stock photo.

Hate crimes in Austin? Vehicles vandalized with spray-painted racial slurs

A clearer picture is emerging from television news reports tonight about vandalism to vehicles in Austin.  We'd read news about an Austin incident on Saturday night in area papers, but the reports were sketchy.

Both KTTC-TV and KAAL-TV provide more details about cars and trucks being spray-painted with racial slurs at the Granillo family's home on Friday night.  We're not sure if the reports are related.

KAAL reports:

One family woke up to find out they were victims of vandalism.

And it’s the kind of vandalism that now has them living in fear.

"It makes me feel very not safe, not safe at all, you know,” says Blanca Granillo.

Armondo Granillo's truck was one of five vehicles vandalized with racial slurs.

Granillo thinks it’s because they’re Mexican.

"We’re looking at this as a potential hate crime, because of the nature of the vandalism,” says Austin Police Chief Paul Philipp.

Under state statute, that would increase the degree of the crime and its penalties. 

And while Laura Granillo says it's not the first time she's been discriminated against because she's Mexican, it is the most serious.

"You walk in the streets and everything and they discriminate. Okay that's fine, but to come to your house, that's pretty bad you know,” says Laura Granillo.

"Like in my case, I have my little girl. So like, I need to work, I need to go work and now I’m afraid she's going to be okay,” says Blanca.

"We have had several crimes we consider hate crimes over the last five or six years,” says Philipp.

"We thought it would be like a safe environment to come here, Austin, Minnesota,” says Laura.

"But they are comparatively rather rare here in Austin, as opposed to a larger city,” says Philipp.

"We just come here for better life, better opportunity. We are very hard workers, we are very nice people, we are not criminals,” says Blanca. . . .

And from Chatfield, this story of harassment:Possible Hate Crime at Chatfield High.  The alleged incident--hanging a black baby doll from a noose in the stage area of the high school gym for the school's small population of students of color is see--is disturbing, whether one reads it as a deeply cruel prank or a hate crime.

Justice Thomas famously remarked from the bench about how a burning cross was an unambiguous symbol of 100 years of lynching. While an empty noose might be subject to interpretation,  the meaning is is crystal clear when that rope is placed around a black throat--if there's substance to the complaint, there should be consequences for the fear-provoking bad conduct. 

 

Mid-day news digest: the fruits of their labors edition

The Mankato Free Press reports that East football standout commits to Air Force:

. . .[Alex] Means, a senior at Mankato East, has verbally committed to attend Air Force and will sign a national letter of intent Feb. 13, the first day of the signing period. He needs to be appointed to the academy by a state legislator, and he’s contacted Rep. Tim Walz, a former teacher at Mankato West, to begin that process. . .

. . .Means will spend next year at the academy’s prep school, then begin as a freshman for the 2009 season. Air Force is the scheduled opponent for the opening game at the University of Minnesota’s new stadium on Sept. 12, 2009.

“I was pretty excited to hear that.”

After spending four seasons at Air Force, he’ll then have a five-year commitment to the service.

Walz also coached football, so we speculate he'll be pleased about a local player's success. Congratulations, Alex!

Yesterday, the Strib posted Numbers don’t tell whole story about members of Congress, party votes relatively late in the day.

We were left scratching our head a bit at the reporter's underlining assumption that a representative's party loyal index should roughly correspond with the district's vote along party lines:

Freshman Rep. Tim Walz, a Democrat facing a tough reelection campaign in the politically split First District, voted with his party on 95.9 percent of votes in the past year, according to the Post database. That number is not far from the 96.6 percent for fellow freshman Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison, who sits in the comfortably Democratic Fifth District.

Since we enjoy being alive, we won't hold our breath until the paper suggests that Michele Bachmann, who took the Sixth with 50 percent of the vote, should have a less partisan Republican voting record than she does.

All teasing aside,  the reporter does go on to look beyond the WaPo's index:

But a look at even the most recent votes shows that’s not the whole story. On Dec. 19, Walz voted against a budget fix that would have stopped the alternative minimum tax from affecting 20 million taxpayers last year, in keeping with his pledge not to increase the federal deficit. Ellison, on the other hand, voted with his party.

Walz said some senior party members have advised him to vote against routine procedural motions in an effort to drive his percentage down, a tactic other freshmen in contested districts have used.

“I’ve got to stand on my two feet on what I voted for,” Walz said.

There other indexes available.One interesting measure, Vote View, is maintained by UC-San Diego political scientist Keith T. Poole and Princeton's Howard Rosenthal,  and  puts Walz at in the 199th position in a spectrum ranging from most liberal (1) to most conservative (437). In short, he's pretty close to the middle of the spectrum. * among all members of Congress, regardless of party.  Though not a party loyal index, the Progressive Punch currently puts Walz at 91.82 percent.

In the netroots, the Blue man suggests that a Republican operative blogger look at his own negative politics Mirror, mirror, on the wall....

A solid point: right now said Republican operative is trying to score a one-man Google bomb to spin away the fact of the Legislative Auditor's findings that Secretary of State Mark Ritchie neither violated state law nor misused public resources.

AP Writer Brian Bakst has more about the auditor's report in Auditor finds Ritchie didn't misuse mailing list. Looks like this report is the one that's going out to most of Greater Minnesota.

We received a rambling email early this morning from our favorite Minuteman Ron Branstner, asking for our position on slavery and exploitation of workers. We're against both injustices.

A good starting place for learning more about the return of human trafficking is a Minnesota Campaign Report diary by Populista, Action: My Christmas Wish? End Slavery. She provides links to several contemporary abolitionist organizations.

One of our own modern-day champions in the fight against human trafficking? The late Senator Paul Wellstone, who worked across partisan lines to fight it after Sheila Wellstone learned that prostitutes trafficked into Minnesota were turning up at battered women's shelters.  Sen. Brownback recalled the Wellstones' work in a heart-felt floor statement on Oct. 25, 2007, the fifth year anniversary of the plane crash that took their lives, and those of their daughter Marcia and five others.

A number of policy measures that can be implemented to fight the domestic exploitation of working people are discussed in the Progressive State Network's report, Pervasive Violations of Wage Laws -- and What States Can Do About It.  It includes links to research about the problem of lax wage law enforcement:

Systematic Workplace Wage Violations

  Brennan Center for Justice,   Unregulated Work in the Global City (2007)

Brennan Center,   Survey of Literature Estimating the Prevalence of Employment and Labor Law Violations in the US (2005)

How States Are Enforcing Wage Laws

  Progressive States Network,   Cracking Down on Wage Law Violators (2006)

Progressive States Network,   Protecting the Freedom to Form Unions (2007)

Brennan Center,   Enforcement of Workplace Rights

National Employment Law Project,   Enforcement of Wage and Hour Standards for Low-Wage Workers (2006)

Cornell University Institute for Labor Relations,   The Cost of Worker  Misclassification in New York State (Feb. 2007)

  Workplace Fairness,   Contractors

We're putting together an assessment of the Governor's "new" proposals to crack down on illegal or undocumented workers. The Post Bulletin reports in Pawlenty's illegal immigration crackdown could cut into local law enforcement:

. . . Local law enforcement officials say they already assist and provide information to ICE. However, a federal agreement previously had been avoided because of the philosophical issue of local law enforcement getting involved in federal issues and the lack of resources, said Rochester Police Chief Roger Peterson.

As of Monday afternoon Peterson had not been notified of the executive action taken by the governor, but Peterson said he worried about a lack of funding.

"Those agreements take officers off the street to do federal activities," he said. "There is no way to backfill that. Local law enforcement still needs to be done." . . .

Will the Pawlenty administration provide support for the added workload to local law enforcement? Or is this yet another unfunded administrative mandate that will burden local government, regardless of its intentions?

*Thanks to GAC's Max Hailperin for calling our attention to a misinterpretation we had made of this data and for providing a correction.

Letters to the editor: property rights and impeachment edition

A couple of letters in the morning papers about the hot button issues of property rights and impeachment.

In the Winona Daily News, reader Earl Ostrander writes Clean Water Act is a rights’ grab. Ostrander urges Walz to protect homeowners and landowners against the bill.  Walz aired his views on the legislation at the Farm Bureau convention last weekend according to Congress needs to act on new farm bill, an article in the Bemidji Pioneer.

Further south in Fillmore County, former legislator and sheriff Neil Haugerud writes that If [he] were a true patriot, he'd be marching in the street with placards calling for President Bush's impeachment and asking Tim Walz to caucus with the Republican Party so a real Democrat could be elected. The Republican Party disagrees.
 

Walz statement on RESTORE Act/FISA: no retroactive immunity

Raw Story reports that the House plans to vote on their version of the RESTORE Act today. The article describes the House version in these terms:

The bill, which will be voted on later Thursday, does not include a provision to grant legal immunity to telecommunications companies that the Bush administration has demanded and it restores the role of the FISA court in approving surveillance methods used by the National Security Agency that could ensnare Americans.

The Walz congressional office issed the following statement today about the RESTORE Act:

Today, Congressman Tim Walz released the following statement about H.R. 3773, the RESTORE Act. The House is expected to vote on the RESTORE Act some time today.

"With today's vote on the RESTORE Act, the new leadership of the House of Representatives has kept its promise to improve the civil liberty provisions in the FISA reform legislation Congress passed in August. I support the RESTORE Act because it protects the civil liberties of all Americans while still giving our government the ability to conduct surveillance on foreign targets who threaten our national security.

In the legislation, the House of Representatives has also refused to provide retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies who participated in the President's illegal terrorist surveillance program because the Bush Administration refuses to provide the House with any information on the nature of that program."

Think Progress has posted a summary of the RESTORE Act here. We're not sure how up-to-date the post is. We'll post more later as we get a chance to review the issues.

The Secrets of Owatonna: in the hood edition

Historically minded readers might take a look at Secrets of Owatonna, an article in today's Owatonna Peoples Press.  Apparently the town fire hall used to be the Town Hall, and the third floor gym/auditorium was used for dances and meetings, including those of the Ku Klux Klan.

The article notes that Klansmen from throughout Southern Minnesota would gather in the room at Owatonna's City Hall, and " discuss their hatred for immigrants and Catholics around the country."

Intrigued, we did a little research about the KKK in the area.  In 2001, the Winona Post reported in KKK march jogs local memories:

. . .The Winona County Historical Society keeps files on the KKK, which drew more than 1,000 people to some rallies in Winona, St. Charles and Stockton. . . .

Within two years, the Klan had become common enough that regular meetings and rallies were held in the Winona County area and many members made no effort to disavow their affiliation with the group. A new state law also required that Klansmen go unmasked.

      A chapter of the KKK was formally organized in Winona in September 1923, according to the Republican Herald.

      The announcement of the new chapter was made in Austin, where,according to the Sept. 17 Minneapolis Journal, 400 candidates  were initiated into the Klan at a public ceremony.

      "Columns of Klansmen from scores of southern Minnesota cities and villages poured into Austin for the initiation," the Journal stated, adding that 2,000 spectators and 1,000 members of the order were present.

      The Klansmen, wearing robes and hoods, but without masks, "clogged every road into Austin with automobiles," according to the Journal, while "ghostly figures in white from peaked cap to the dragging hem of flowing gowns patrolled the roads about Austin in the role of traffic police."

      Cities and villages that sent Klansmen to the Austin ceremony, according to the Journal, included Rochester, Red Wing,Rushford, Preston, Cannon Falls, Zumbrota, Faribault, Fairmont, Pipestone, Owatonna, Mankato, Canby, Spring Lake, Montevideo, St. James, St. Paul and Minneapolis. Winona was not mentioned.

The Austin meeting followed an intensive six-month campaign to organize the Klan in every Minnesota county.

There's this item from September 1925 in the catalogue of the Minnesota Historical Society:

Views of a Ku Klux Klan parade and gathering in Owatonna, Minn. Includes parade floats and marchers and gathering at the Steele County fairgrounds. The parade units represent various Minnesota towns.

Owatonna had no exclusive franchise on the anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic Klan. There's even a newspaper: the Minnesota Fiery Cross, its earlier manifestation as The Call of the North, and a Klan sword.   Readers can view Klan pictures online at the MHS here; we're guesing that the electric cross is from one of the rallies described in the Winona Post article.

Not exactly breaking news, but a sad page from state history.  The space will be remodelled in 2008.

Saturday morning news digest: flood recovery summit and more

The Post Bulletin reports in Rep. Walz: Stay on top of flood recovery:

. . .In a short, passionate speech, Walz said the effort so far isn't perfect, but is quite good. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which took a lot of criticism over Hurricane Katrina, has received many complimentary letters, he said.

The communities' spirit to rebuild also has helped. He particularly praised the Minnesota Legislature for its "very visionary" $165 million flood-relief bill that was flexible and focused on the local level. . . .

. . .One thing that's needed, in towns like Rushford with large business districts, is a way to keep those businesses open and not force people to go to big-box stores in big cities, he said. "Many of us know how fragile the economies are in many of these communities," he said.

A sidebar story provides more information from the summit: State, federal agencies explain how they can help flood areas

In a separate article, the PB notes that state Flood relief requests are $40 million over allocation. Fortunately, some of the deficit is being addressed by non-profits, as the Fillmore County Journal reports in Initiative Foundation awards businesses $100,000 in grants to small businesses in Rushford.

KAAL-TV reports on Learning from the Floods. The story is accompanied by a video clip.

The Winona Daily News covers the flood summit in Leaders seek help at flood summit.  The paper also reports that Federal flood aid nears $50 million, with most of the money going to people and businesses in Winona and Fillmore Counties.  In Rushford insurance agents receive flood assistance, we learn that two flooded out insurance agents each received a check for $2,750 from the Professional Insurance Agents of Minnesota Disaster Relief Fund.

Yesterday, we posted about "Cook Up Some Help," the  Hotel and Restaurant Employees' (UNITE HERE Local 21) drive to collect kitchenware for flood victims who are moving back into their homes.  On the western end of the First, the Salvation Army, American Red Cross and RSVP of Southwestern Minnesota are asked Worthington area residents to donate new and gently used Christmas ornaments for Stockton residents.  Read the details in the Globe's  A request to send some Christmas cheer.

It's clear that the immensity of the area's costly recovery is going to take the same spirit of public and private can-do cooperation that prevailed during the emergency itself.  Meanwhile,  KTTC-TV reports that Southern Minnesotans are pitching in with our state's efforts to help with the California wildfires in Rochester, Minnesota Send More Help.

In other news, The Hill reports that Walz is taking heat from the GLBT community for blocking the Baldwin Amendment to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation. In its present form, the bill doesn't cover transgendered people. 

Tuesday morning news digest: drying out edition

The PiPress looks at the hit Southeastern Minnesota's tourism industry is taking as a result of the flooding in Floods take deep toll on tourism:

Tourism is an $11.8 billion industry in Minnesota, according to a 2006 report by Explore Minnesota Tourism and the university's Tourism Center. More specifically, travelers in the southern region of the state spent about $1.9 billion, according to a 2006 report on economic impact.

The Root River State Trail, which connects Houston, Rushford, Peterson, Lanesboro and other communities, has been a boon for southeastern Minnesota as a tourism region.

Everyone in the area feels the consequences of the natural disaster.

"If it impacts our neighbors, it impacts our whole region," said Mark Bishop, owner of Niagara Cave in Harmony.

After the floods, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources closed the Root River trail from Lanesboro to Houston so crews could repair a bridge in Rushford and a 400-foot trail section that washed away near Lanesboro.

The Strib reports that damage estimates have been revised upward in Flood damage tops $67M.

The Austin Daily Herald asks that Congress Fix National Flood Insurance Program, as does the Mankato Free Press in Needed: A flood of reality.   Meanwhile residents in Adams supplied clean-up supplies, $400, and 14 volunteers, according to the ADH report, Adams sends relief to flood aftermath.

In the Marshall Independent, farmer and Land Stewardship Project member Paul Sobocinski asks for a competition title in his letter House farm bill falls short on market access:

The House farm bill (H.R. 2419) that passed July 27 took a step forward in support for rural communities by including $15 million a year in mandatory funding for community-based beginning farmer training programs. Congressman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, along with Congressman Tim Walz, D-Minn., successfully secured beginning farmer initiatives in the House bill which also improved access to credit and conservation provisions for new farmers. These initiatives are about creating new opportunities in agriculture for the next generation of farmers.

But one place the House bill falls short is providing assurances that farmers have access to free and competitive markets. As we pass initiatives to support beginning farmers, we also need to enact policies that mean farmers have access to fair and competitive markets. . . .

The rest of the letter spells out specific proposals that should be included in the Senate version of the Farm Bill.  Read it all at the Independent.

Gary Wallin of Mantorville isn't happy with Democrats voting for FISA, he writes in We've giving away our freedom, a letter to the editor in the Rochester Post Bulletin.  In the comments section, a reader recommends Ron Paul.

In news, the PB reports Record rainfall ripped open hillsides in Hokah.   Help is coming in, according to Volunteers roll in to help SE Minnesota flood victims.  Another county could be added to the disaster, if a request is honored: Pawlenty requests disaster declaration for Dodge County.

The Winona Daily News picks up th AP story on how Flooding hurts clients of community-supported agriculture.  It has much more flood-related  news, but the highlight today maybe the unsigned letter reprinted in the editorial Of scoundrels and saviors in time of need.

Finally, we had first read the New York Times' comparison of the 1995 and 2007 Congresses via the Wege:

JUST before Congress adjourned for its August recess, Democrats engaged in a flurry of legislative activity, while Republicans complained about a “do-nothing” Congress’s meager policy accomplishments. Deep partisan differences, narrow majorities and a Republican in the White House have frustrated Democratic ambitions and fueled a toxic atmosphere in both chambers of Congress. The public’s low approval ratings reflect broad discontent with the direction of the country but also displeasure with Congress for failing to reverse course on Iraq and for continuing the bitter partisan warfare.

But has this really been a do-nothing Congress? The circumstances are similar to those in 1995, when a new Republican majority in both houses took office under a Democratic president. So perhaps the best question to ask is, how is this 110th Congress doing compared with the 104th Congress, in 1995?

Both new majorities began by spending more time in session, holding more committee meetings and roll call votes, and passing more substantive measures than the Congress before them had. At the same time, in both cases, the number of bills signed into law by the president from January to August dropped.

Still, the Democratic Congress’s legislative harvest this year has been bountiful compared with that of its Republican counterpart in 1995. Back then, the Republicans’ Contract With America was stymied by opposition from the Senate and the president. The new Congress has enacted a far-reaching lobbying and ethics reform bill, an increase in the minimum wage, recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, foreign investment rules and a competitiveness package, and has embedded a number of major initiatives and new priorities in continuing and supplemental spending bills. Democrats also made headway on energy, children’s health insurance, college student loans, Head Start, drug safety and a farm bill — though much of this awaits action in the Senate or in conference and faces a possible veto.

During the first seven months of 1995, Congressional oversight of the executive branch increased modestly in the Senate but not at all in the House. But this year Congress, especially the House, has intensified its oversight, following years of inattention and deference by its Republican predecessor.

Democratic promises to restore civility and regular parliamentary procedure by allowing the minority party a larger role in deliberations have foundered. The number of restrictive rules for debate has increased, and the conference process has been short-circuited on various occasions.

In the Senate, Republicans have made the filibuster, or the threat of filibuster, routine, setting a 60-vote hurdle for all contested legislative matters. This has led Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, to file many more petitions for cloture than Bob Dole, his counterpart in 1995, did.

The Wege suggests that Congress will be more popular once it curbs the President's war  ( not his exact words, but this is a public school and library friendly blog, so you'll have to visit to read them).