A Bluestem Prairie

Wednesday morning digest: got to gotv edition

The First district's dailies have overwhelming favored Congressman Walz in their endorsements and the Walz campaign is running the lion's share of ads for the congressional contest. The papers are relatively quiet about the race, especially compared to 2006, when the Walz-Gutknecht contest was suddenly red hot. Election predictions in the state's blogosphere (see examples here and here) favor a Walz victory.

But as Mr. Garcia once wisely sang, "when life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door."  We remind our readers that overconfidence doesn't win elections: strong GOTV often makes the difference. Walz's campaign and supporters mustn't get too sure of their candidate's chances and slack off or get distracted.

A story in this morning's PiPress, Republicans, Democrats mobilize Minnesota's biggest get-out-the-vote campaigns:

"The standard math is that a good get-out-the-vote operation can add potentially up to 4 (percentage) points to a candidate's totals," state DFL Executive Director Andy O'Leary said. "Four points in a year like this is the difference between winning and losing everything from the state legislative candidates all the way to the top of the ticket."

Volunteer to work on GOTV phonebanks and doorknocks. Volunteers receive training and, unlike our feline friend, probably won't have snowbirds' homes on their walking lists. Or stop by your local DFL office to connect with a phone bank or doorknock. It's incredible where offices are poppingup. There's even a DFL office opening in Kasson tomorrow, the Dodge County Independent reports.

Congressman Walz and other Democratic candidates will also be rallying supporters across the district. The Winona State College Democrats will host Congressman Tim Walz and Al Franken at WSU tonight at 7:30 p.m. Click on the link for more information.

A Korean War vet explains his support for Walz in an LTE in the Albert Lea Tribune. Another supporter tells Winon Daily News readers that Walz is wonderful. 

A company salutes new legislation to help vets manage pain in Boston Scientific Welcomes Passage of Federal Pain Care Legislation to Help Military Members and Veterans.  Broadcasting and Cable magazine notes Walz's watchdogging of telecom issues before the FCC in White Spaces Jockeying Continues. The issue:

Proponents and opponents of using unlicensed wireless devices in unused parts of the broadcast spectrum, the so-called “white spaces,” continue to vigorously lobby the Federal Communications Commission with only a week left until the commission’s vote on the issue.

Some 28 members of Congress have sent a bipartisan letter to the FCC urging the commission to delay its scheduled Nov. 4 vote and seek public comment on the white spaces rulemaking, citing unfavorable results in an FCC report on field testing of prototype devices this summer. The lawmakers expressed concerns over the devices’ interference with both wireless microphones and cable television systems, and said that

“further clarity on the report’s policy conclusions is needed,” as the prototype devices "failed to differentiate between an occupied and unoccupied TV channel nearly 33% of the time.”

An interesting question that's not on most people's front burner, but yet another story that illustrates Walz's commitment to the details of policy making.

Saturday morning digest: looking forward to the day edition

The Winona Daily News reports in New child protection center open; director looks forward to day he can close it:

. . . Among the speakers at Friday’s dedication were representatives for both U.S. Sens. Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar. U.S. Rep. Tim Walz spoke from a lectern. All three were instrumental in securing a $1.22 million earmark for the center in 2008 and releasing the funds from the Department of Justice last month after they were delayed. The hold up caused the center to take out a loan to stay open.

The center has often struggled to obtain funding, but the federal money and $2.5 million in private funds from a WSU capital campaign are expected to sustain the institution into the future. All three legislators said they will continue to support the center.

“We are standing with giants here,” Walz said.

Angela Rose, executive director of Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment, a Chicago-based child-advocacy organization, spoke of her own torment. She was abducted and sexually assaulted when she was a teenager. She relayed the trauma and how authorities handled her case.

Vieth took the podium last. He used much of his time for a rallying cry.

He talked about a hotel cleaning woman in Hudson, N.Y., who saw him speak. She told him she had been sexually abused when she was young and that it plagued her for years. She told him how important his work was, and that she would pray for him and his center every day for the rest of her life. He said the woman asked him not to forget her.

And then he challenged the audience and the world to put him out of a job.

“The grand opening of the new facilities of the National Child Protection Training Center is a great day,” he said. “But it pales in comparison to that day not far from now, that wonderful day not far from now when the work is done, when all the children are safe, and we can close this center.”

Amen to that. KAAL-TV provides a video tours of the new center in Center Cracks Down on Child Abuse. Vieth exemplifies the problem-solving ethos of many Southern Minnesotans. Confronted with his own limitations as a county prosecutor when pursuing child abusers, he worked to discover and share means by which all could fight and prevent this scourge. 

The denial of the center's application for a federal grant by the DOJ, despite its high ranking by peer reviewers, triggered Congressman Walz to call for hearings on the grant making process. The Winona Daily News reacted to the testimony at those hearings here. Murray Waas has more on the hearings at Crooks and Liars.

In his Political Notebook at the Mankato Free Press, Mark Fischenich writes about Chet Edwards' visit:

A Lone Star salute

Texas Congressman Chet Edwards — the Democrat who will be George W. Bush’s representative in Washington once the president retires to his Crawford ranch — came to Minnesota this week to campaign for Rep. Tim Walz, DFL-Mankato.

Another reason you might know Edwards’ name is he was reportedly among the final four choices on Barack Obama’s list of running mates.

But Edwards’ visit was more about his chairmanship of the appropriations subcommittee that funds Veterans Affairs, and the Waco resident praised Walz’s record on veterans issues during stops in Rochester, Owatonna and Mankato.

Edwards talked about the $16.3 billion increase in funding for veterans health care and other benefits during Walz’s first year in Congress, an amount that exceeded the combined increases for those programs in the previous 12 years.

Edwards credited Walz in particular for pushing an increase in the mileage reimbursement paid to veterans who travel to get medical care at VA hospitals, bumping it from 11 cents a mile to 41 cents in the upcoming fiscal year.

“Tim twisted my arm so hard I thought I was going to have to hire a chiropractor,” Edwards said to the group of veterans at the Morson-Ario VFW.

The political reporter also observes how dated a recent vote makes Davis's attack ad:

The second part is clearly false because the moratorium on offshore drilling no longer exists.

Walz and other Democrats eventually dropped their opposition and supported a budget bill that allowed the moratorium on offshore drilling to expire. That bill passed. Since the offshore drilling ban no longer exists, it can’t be argued that Walz’s earlier votes will “keep gas prices high.”

In short, Davis is flapping his fingers backward, as his beloved vice presidential candidate might say.

GAC mathemathics prof Max Hailperin thinks that since Walz helped veterans with transportation, such advocacy adds yet another reason to vote for Tim Walz's re-election.

The Rochester Post Bulletin reports in Mayo Clinic hires firm to explore bypass route for DM & E that Davis's mention of the hire, which he had heard about as a candidate in a briefing by two Mayo officials, was the first public mention of the hire. The option may revive a bitter debate from Rochester's politics in the late 1990s:

The possibility of a bypass running south of the city holds both promises and perils. State Sen. Dave Senjem, of Rochester, who was present at Thursday's debate, said he was stunned when he heard the news.

"It hit me like a ton of bricks," said Senjem, the state Senate minority leader. "I thought it was out of the question."

Senjem, who is employed by Mayo Clinic, sat on the Rochester City Council in the late 1990s when the council unsuccessfully tried to push the bypass option. "It was like the Civil War in Rochester," pitting the city against rural residents as well as the city against DM&E, Senjem said.

He said he had always assumed the bypass idea was dead and that whatever mitigation did occur, it would involve a recessed railroad bed and high vertical walls  running through Rochester. Talk of a bypass is likely to revive that rancorous debate, he said.

The article concludes:

At the forum on Thursday, both Davis and Walz spoke of the need to find a common solution. Davis, in particular, extolled the benefits of a multi-modal transportation hub involving rail, Interstate 90 and Rochester International Airport that would create jobs and new infrastructure.

"That would be fantastic, but we have to investigate this further," Davis said.

Walz, a Mankato high school teacher who was elected as a Democrat to Congress in 2006, opposed DM&E's plan. He indicated a new spirit of cooperation is being built among the major players. He said he has met dozens of times with the Rochester Coalition as well as nearly a half-dozen times with Canadian Pacific chief executive officer Fred Green. The Rochester Coalition includes Mayo Clinic, the city of Rochester, Olmsted County and the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce.

"We can build and expand our infrastructure. And if it is the Canadian Pacific building to move our commodities, to move our cellulosic ethanol or to move coal from the Powder River Basin -- because I'll tell you what, if you don't believe in coal, turn these lights off right now because that's where it's coming from," Walz said.

Walz focused on coalition building to resolve the dispute. Davis sounds as if he's addressing some other question.

Developing rural infrastructure is an issue that Walz has brought up at his Economic Summits in the district--and his concerns have included the electronic highway as while. In Broadband comes up a little in Local Elections, the Blandin Foundation's blog notes that Walz is one of the few who discuss the issue:

I’ve run across a couple of articles today that talk about local Minnesota elections and specifically mention broadband. I want to keep this post nonpartisan so I’m simply going to list and link to the articles I found. Also, there wasn’t anything particularly earth-shatteringly new in any of the articles – I just like to note the fact that broadband is coming up.

Rep Tim Walz of Mankato – “Government needs to help rural areas expand Internet access like years ago it did that for electricity, Walz said. The large empty areas between homes means electric cooperatives always will struggle without government aid, and the same is true to broadband, he said.”

Andy Welti 30B – a letter to the editor talks about Welti and the importance of the Broadband Task Force

I thought I’d be able to find more – sadly no; well not yet.

The Don Davis article about Greg Mikkelson has been posted to a Ron Paul forum here: Greg Mikkelson (I) Minnesota 1st Congressional District. Will Mikklelson's support for Ron Paul draw Republicans away from Brian Davis?  Davis parts company with Paul on the new FISA bill (Paul voted against it; Davis told the Mankato Free Press he would have supported it) and the war in Iraq, both important issues for the Ron Paul movement. 

While Mikkelson is the Independence Party's candidate after being the only one to file for the seat, Southern Minnesota's most prominent Independence Party leader, former Congressman Tim Penny, expressed his support for Walz's re-election in this week's Waseca Daily News.

A great article in the Mankato Free Press about Field Operations Day 1: Obama. Go read it to get a sense of the excitement about the campaign. The grassroots are pretty healthy in Southern Minnesota. Witness the news from the New Ulm Journal,  Speeches as DFL opens Obama office:

Local Democrats now have foothold in downtown New Ulm, since they opened a DFL campaign office in the space formerly occupied by New Ulm Drug.

Party activists joined local representatives and candidates for a grand opening for the office, located at 103 N. Minnesota St., Friday evening.

The office has, so far, served as a central point for door-knocking tours, as a call center, as a merchandise shop for DFL candidates and as a meeting place for local party members. Sign-up sheets for upcoming activities hand on the walls and red, white and blue balloons hang from the ceiling. Campaign stickers and signs sit on the glass shelves that line both of the walls at the front of the space.

Another sign of grassroots organizing in Southern Minnesota?  On beautiful sunny Saturdays like this one, we've noticed that our traffic plummets until nightfall, when friends return to check out the latest news and commentary.

The pattern developed earlier at the end of the summer; it strongly resembles what we saw on the Saturday before the 2006 election. Minnesota Central worries about apathy---with these new offices and the strong organizing by DFL candidates, and our own traffic patterns, we don't see the Walz campaign being lulled into sloth.

Photo: Victor Vieth.

Friday morning news and netroots digest: moving forward edition

CQ Politics includes the contest in Minnesota's Second in Key House Races Shift, and it’s in the Democrats’ Favor. Despite Sarvi's middling fundraising, the race has been moved from Safe Republican to Republican Favored. THE RPM shouldn't take that one for granted.

The latest rankings at Cook's Political Report leaves MN-01 status unchanged at "Likely Democratic."

The CQ rankings change reflects a post at the Washington Post's Capitol Briefing blog, Dems Expect to Gain  a 'Whole Bunch of Seats'. In the House:

As he has in the past, Van Hollen warned against "irrational exuberance" on the part of his fellow Democrats, and cautioned that outside groups like Freedom's Watch could help the GOP compensate for the National Republican Congressional Committee's relative lack of cash. Still, Van Hollen emphasized that "the big story is that we're in offense."

In the 2006 cycle, Van Hollen said, the DCCC spent $70 million on 47 House races, 40 of which where Democrats were on offense and just seven on defense. This cycle, Van Hollen estimated that as many as 75 seats were in play, with Democrats on offense in roughly two-thirds of them.

"We will pick up seats in the next election," Van Hollen predicted. "Even our colleagues on the other side recognize that."

Capitol Briefing also says Ethics Office Takes a Step Forward. House leaders Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner have finally announced their selections for the panel:

But today there is finally some progress toward getting the OCE going, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) jointly named the eight members of the office's board -- technically six members and two alternates. The members are ex-Reps. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (D-Calif.), Karan English (D-Ariz.), Porter Goss (R-Fla.) and David Skaggs (D-Colo.), former House Chief Administrative Officer Jay Eagen and former Federal Election Commission Chief of Staff Allison Hayward. The two alternates are ex-Reps. Abner Mikva (D-Ill.) and Bill Frenzel (R-Minn.).

Congressman Walz was one of the handful of representatives who started the ball rolling on changing the House rules so that the panel could be created.

The Winona Daily News and its sister Lee newspaper, the LaCrosse Tribune look at the upswing in Amtrak passengers in More riders could spur more Amtrak service. The skinny:

That trend has spurred a group of mayors in Minnesota and Wisconsin who want to lobby for funds to expand rail service between St. Paul and Chicago. The Minnesota-Wisconsin Amtrak Corridor group — which includes mayors from St. Paul to Watertown, Wis. — gathered Wednesday in Winona to build support for a proposal to double service on the line.

Winona Mayor Jerry Miller, who organized the meeting, said expansion of Amtrak service is linked to Winona’s effort to renovate the city’s Amtrak station into a rail, bus and car hub for southern Minnesota. . . .

. . .Federal legislators from Minnesota say they’ll examine the viability of expanding passenger rail from St. Paul to Chicago, though some aren’t yet ready to pledge full support for the proposal.

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., has long supported upgrading the Union Depot in St. Paul, which could accommodate both light rail and the Amtrak line, a spokeswoman said. Coleman “welcomes the idea of an additional train in Winona,” spokeswoman Megan Turnell said.

Rep. Tim Walz, DFL-Minn., is requesting an analysis of ridership on the Amtrak line, a spokeswoman said.

“If the passenger demand exists for a second daily train, the Congressman would be supportive of providing additional transit options for people along the line,” spokeswoman Meredith Salsbery said.

Salsbery said Walz co-sponsored the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, which could provide more than $14 billion for Amtrak capital projects — including additional trains and track upgrades — over a five-year period. The measure passed the House and is awaiting action in the Senate, Salsbery said.

The Mankato Free Press reports in Walz, Coleman: Housing bill necessary:

It was a tricky congressional task: restoring confidence in mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, helping homeowners struggling with loan payments, giving a boost to cities facing a rash of foreclosures — all while not leaving taxpayers feeling like they were bailing out foolish decisions made by homebuyers and lenders.

Democratic Congress-man Tim Walz and Republican Sen. Norm Coleman think congressional negotiators, after months of effort, pulled it off with the bill that passed the House Wednesday and is expected to clear the Senate Saturday. President Bush also has been persuaded, dropping threats to veto the bill.

“They got it right, I think,” said Walz, DFL-Mankato. “It’s a tough one. ... My first take is, I wish we didn’t have to do this.”

But the risks to the economy of a further deterioration in the condition of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made it imperative the federal government act, Walz said.

“The fact of the matter is this is an unprecedented situation, and we have to stabilize the housing market,” he said.

Although fewer than one in four House Republicans backed the bill, Coleman said he will support it in a procedural vote today and a final vote he expected Saturday.

“This is a crisis. We have to deal with this issue,” Coleman said. “Between the housing crisis and the energy crisis, those are the two things that are dragging this economy down.” . . .

Read the rest at the Free Press.  In Coleman, Franken bound for Farmfest the paper yesterday reported:

House candidates, too

At 1:30 p.m., congressional candidates will take the stage at Farmfest.

First District Congressman Tim Walz, DFL-Mankato, and his Republican opponents — endorsed candidate Brian Davis of Rochester and state Sen. Dick Day of Owatonna — have said they’ll be there.

This should be interesting, since Davis has said little to the press about ag issues. Walz serves on the House Agriculture committee, while Day has criticized the new Farm Bill. In the same article, the paper looks at name calling in the race under the subheading, Sticks and Stones, while noting Walz's recent statement on drilling and oil production.

Walz has told the press in the past that the election will be A referendum on Rep. Tim Walz, and the title for Sea Stachura's dispatch from St. Charles runs with that concept. The lead:

It's Saturday morning at Mike's Food Center in St. Charles. Democratic Congressman Tim Walz holds court in front of a display of baked beans and ketchup. Ten or so shoppers form a circle around him, nodding their heads.

"Get together and compromise. Make it work. Even those who are staunchly opposed to drilling are saying if takes a little compromise on that to get them to compromise to move toward investment in renewals, do it," Walz tells the group.

One woman chimes in, "That sounds really good."

Walz talks fast. In 2006 he beat another fast talker by six percentage points. That was auctioneer and Republican Congressman Gil Gutknecht. Gutknecht had served the district for 12 years, and in 2006 most political scientists said the district was too conservative for Walz. They said a tidal wave of anti-Republican sentiment was the only way he'd get into office. . . .

Read or listen to the story at MPR.

Former DFL congressman and IP gubernatorial candidate Tim Penny may be supporting John McCain this year, but his son Marcus staffed the DFL booth at the county fair, the Waseca County News reports in Fair game for campaigns.  Some snippets:

“The fair booth gives us a chance to meet and talk with people and let them know what the party is all about and hear their concerns,” said Waseca County DFL chair Bob Hunter.

Democrats’ immediate concerns are economic, especially gas costs. On the national level, the war in Iraq is a clear second and locally, it is probably education, he said.

Katie Mullen and Marcus Penny said they were excited about working the DFL booth Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s really good to see younger people behind the booth because there are so many young people at the fair and it grabs their attention,” Mullen said.

Penny said he’s a Democrat because he grew up as a Democrat. Even though his dad, former Democratic congressman Tim Penny, changed his views, Marcus Penny said he stays with “what I grew up knowing and believing.”

This year, the added excitement for Penny and Mullen comes from presidential candidate Barack Obama. They believe he has done a lot of good for the Democratic Party, drawing new voters and disenfranchised and independent voters by bringing a new tone to politics.

Penny said, “I absolutely think he can win.” . . .

There's more at the Waseca County News.

On July 12, the Wall Street Journal editorial page scolded the Walz-Graves NCLB Recess bill, falsely claiming that if the measure passed:

schools would no longer have to file progress reports that expose achievement gaps between kids of different races, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Yesterday, the NEA fired back in Walz-Graves is Common Sense to Us:

Your July 12 editorial "Wrong Education Fix" is flat wrong in describing why the National Education Association supports the Walz-Graves bill, the No Child Left Behind Recess Until Reauthorization Act. In fact, what this bill does is very simple. It says that for the next school year and until Congress reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (more commonly known as No Child Left Behind), schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress will not be subject to additional sanctions.

The bill does not suspend any testing required by NCLB. It does not suspend any reporting of test and other achievement data required by the law. And it does not minimize or eliminate the consequences for schools and districts that have already been subject to sanctions. The bill simply recognizes that because Congress has not reauthorized the law, there should be a pause from subjecting schools to new or additional sanctions, since it is very likely the consequences applied against schools will be changed during the reauthorization process.

The Walz-Graves bill offers a common-sense, moderate approach to NCLB's current system of snapshot, multiple-choice tests that are one-dimensional and unfair to children -- a system that is widely believed to need modification and improvement.

The NEA and a diverse coalition of education, civil rights, and other organizations will continue to work hard for a final version of ESEA that will not only require testing, but provide resources for programs that improve test scores, such as smaller class sizes and quality pre-K programs.

Congress should get on the stick on either fixing or flunking NCLB--but since it's been sent to the back burner, Walz-Graves is a common-sense interim.  While we at BSP aren't too keen on local schools ceding control, we also think that schools should set standards, teachers should be accountable, and yes, the "achievement gaps between kids of different races, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds" that concerns the WSJ is a very real problem.

How can NCLB be tweaked--or replaced--in order to better achieve those goals? As is the case for so many of the policy issues facing this country, we think finding the "sweet spot" between ideals and practicality is going to have to take more than bickering and simple talking points.

Polinaut notes:

The Pi Press, the Rochester Post-Bulletin and the Star Tribune pick up on 1st District Republican Brian Davis' late property tax payments.

Winona Radio also picked up the story in Davis-Property taxes; WCCO ran with Minn. Candidate In 1st  Dist. Missed Tax Deadlines. Minnpost's David Bauer says:

Complicating a partisan narrative, now it's a GOP Congressional candidate with tax problems. Dr. Brian Davis, the 1st District endorsee, was delinquent on his property taxes 10 consecutive times over five years, the Strib's Kevin Duchschere reports. Davis calls it an "unfortunate oversight" and says he has no excuse.

Except, of course, that he excuses himself by blaming the fact that the bill comes in the mail.

 

Update: Christopher Truscott places Davis's tax tardiness ("arrogant") in the context of Republican pearl clutching over Al Franken filing in the wrong states ("stupid") in Unintended Consequences.[end update]

The Rochester Democrat has posted Congressman Walz's summer Veterans' Newsletter.

CQ Politics: ethics swamp not drained yet

CQ Politics takes a look at Democratic efforts for ethics reform in Congress and judges the performance as a "mixed bag."  Walz agrees:

Yet the lawmakers who ought to be most nervous about facing the voters — the “majority maker” House freshmen — say they think they can campaign on their party’s successes on ethics improvements.

“I think we have a good record to stand on,” said Rep.  Jason Altmire , D-Pa., who defeated three-term GOP incumbent Melissa A. Hart in 2006. “Ethics is a key issue for what we want to be judged by, and certainly there is more to be done.

“I think it would be difficult for someone to characterize us as being inactive on that issue,” he said.

“I think we’ve made great strides. But I would be the first to say there is much more to go,” said Rep.  Tim Walz , D-Minn., who made it into the freshman class by ousting Republican Gil Gutknecht, who served six terms.

More on that freshman class:

Many of the freshmen said they’re trying to go the extra mile on ethics. Many of them post their requested earmarks on their Web site — when the rules only require them to reveal the ones they get written into legislation or committee reports, not everything they seek.

Congressman Walz is one of those who goes the extra mile by disclosing his earmarks, a fact duly noted by the Sunlight Foundation's Earmark Disclosure Project.

The article does point out a development that must be a disappointment to Walz: the slow pace at which new House ethics panel has been seated. It was created by a House rules resolution Walz and a handful of freshman legislators proposed and shepherded toward passage in March 2008. Walz had hoped that the panelists would be picked in two months.

According to today's CQPolitics article, current freshman Class Paul Hodes hopes that Charlie Rangel's request for an investigation of his own office will goad leadership into seating the ethics panel.

WDN editorial: "it's about government accountability"

While Senator Day and Doctor Davis are mouthing empty NRCC pieties about earmarks, Congressman Walz has been open and transparent about his budget requests. He's also been keen on government accountability.

Today's editorial in the Winona Daily News, Despite ranking, DOJ grant-giving full of politics, praises Walz for his actions to prompting the investigation of the project of giving grants at the DOJ:

A federal grant application by Winona State University to the DOJ appears to have been DOA.

The National Child Protection and Training Center, the remarkable WSU-affiliated program that’s on a mission to protect children from exploitation and danger, found itself thrust into the national spotlight after it was revealed that a U.S. Department of Justice administrator had passed up the center when divvying up grant money, along with many other deserving programs, in favor of programs that he had personal connections to. . . .

. . .But, adding insult to injury was the fact that the DOJ went through the hassle of reviewing and even ranking the grants based on the criteria the agency itself devised and developed.

Even worse, the National Child Protection and Training Center got the fourth-highest score. That’s the fourth-highest score in the nation. Yet, the justice department overlooked it. Winona State shouldn’t feel so bad, though. The top five programs were also passed over.

That’s when Minnesota 1st District Congressman Tim Walz stepped in, and an investigation was launched.

We applaud Walz for sticking up for the center, asking questions and pursuing this issue.

It’s not just watching out for a center that happens to be in his district; it’s about government accountability. . . .

. . .This wasn’t just some special-interest bacon in an already overcrowded federal barrel of pork. This money goes to help prepare adults to protect children.

After the center's grant was turned down by the DOJ, Walz and Minnesota's senators requested and secured earmarks for the highly effective program.

The newspaper board wants Walz and others in Congress to push for less patronage and more accountability in the administration's grant-making process:

We thank Walz and other representatives, such as R. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., for the scrutiny, but we suggest that they didn’t go far enough. Not only is it a shame and a sham that WSU and other DOJ-approved grants got passed over, it seems to represent a waste of DOJ employees’ time. It’s time for more answers — if the process is rigged in the name of politics, then so be it. But it’s even worse than that, it’s wasteful, disingenuous and takes away time that could be spent helping protect children.

Assuring the federal grant process is fair, efficient, and sticking to standards is a good idea. Please contribute to Congressman Walz's campaign by June 30 to make sure he can follow through on the next step of watchdogging the administration's own budgeting.  And sign up to volunteer--here's a great opportunity to be in an Independence Day parade with the Congressman.

Photo: Victor Vieth of the National Child Protection and Training Center.  Photo taken from Lost case led to improved prosecution, a compelling Mankato Free Press article which tells the story of how Vieth and others came to develop the tools to fight child sexual abuse. 

The primary color is black: most MN congress member mass mailings cut off on June 11

A letter writer complains in today's Rochester Post Bulletin about receiving too many franked puff pieces in Free postage being abused by Kline. Complaints about representatives abusing the franking privilege abound, with Michele Bachmann being the champ in scoring them in Minnesota.

This incumbent advantage was diminished earlier this month.  House rules governing Pre-Election Communication Restrictions have put Minnesota's incumbent representatives under a mass mailing and communications blackout.

Here's the general rule:

Section 3210 (a)(6)(A), Title 39 U.S.C. provides that a Member may not mail any mass mailings during the 90 days immediately preceding the date of any election (primary, general, special, or run off) in which the Member’s name will appear on the ballot as a candidate for election or re-election to any public office.

Since Minnesota has a September 9 primary, and all House members are in the Blackout period between August 6 and Nov. 4th for the General Election, many mass franking privileges for Minnesota's representatives were blacked out on June 11.  A member need not have an opponent in the primary; his or her name simply has to be on the ballot; unopposed candidates still appear on the ballot in Minnesota's primary.

Here are the rest of the regulations:

A mass mailing is defined as an unsolicited mailing of 500 or more pieces of substantially identical content - whether mailed singly or in bulk - over the course of a legislative year (January 3 of one year through January 2 of the following year).

Mass Communications

Likewise, the Regulations of the Committee on House Administration governing the use of official resources and the Member’s Representational Allowance prohibit the reimbursement of any expenses incurred in support of the preparation, production, distribution, etc. of any mass communication – regardless of  media – if such communication occurs during the 90 days immediately preceding the date of any election (primary, general, special, or run off) in which the Member’s name will appear on the ballot as a candidate for election or re-election to any public office.

A mass communication is defined, consistent with the definition of a mass mailing, as any communication of substantially identical content to 500 or more individuals over the course of a legislative year, regardless of media.  Examples of mass communications include but are not limited to:

• Automated telephone (“robo”) calls.
• E-communications distributed to a non-subscriber e-mailing list.
• Advertisements (radio, TV, internet, newspaper, etc.) of town hall meetings or of the personal appearance of the Member and/or the Member's employees at an official
• Mass mailings, e.g., newsletters, meeting notices, newspaper inserts, surveys and questionnaires, etc.
• Facsimiles.
• Posters, flyers, leaflets, handouts, etc.
• Video or audio communications for which a Member may incur expenses for production, distribution, and/or broadcast.

                                                    The restrictions do not apply to:                          

• Advertisements for employment and internship opportunities in the Member’s congressional office, U.S. Military Academy Days, and An Artistic Discovery.
• E-communications distributed to a subscriber e-mailing list of residents of the Member’s district.
• Mailings or communications which are in direct response, i.e., a solicited response, to inquiries or requests from the person to whom the response is directed.
• Mass mailings or communications to Members of Congress, government officials (Federal, state, and/or local, and mailings of news releases to bona fide communications media outlets.
• Updates to the Member’s official web site.
• Video teleconferencing services in support of the conduct of a meeting being hosted by the Member.

One issue raised by the use of teletown meetings is their fit within franking regulations. In Lawmakers flock to tele-town meetings, Politico noted this issue:

Rep. Michael E. Capuano (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Franking Commission, the body that oversees lawmakers’ official communication with constituents, said current rules don’t adequately address telephone town meetings.

“The rules are out of the 18th century, and we all know it,” he said. “Many things were never anticipated by the rules, and this is just a classic example.”

The rules carefully prescribe the content of mailings to constituents, limiting, for example, the number of times they may refer to “Republicans” or “Democrats.” Telephone town halls receive no similar scrutiny, although lawmakers must seek approval for any pre-recorded audio messages.

Capuano said telephone meetings are akin to traditional town halls, in which no one censors what lawmakers say. Nonetheless, he said he began an overhaul of the franking rules in December with the aim of addressing new technologies.

If we read the regulations correctly, under current rules, those Representatives who utilize teletown conferences could legally inform those constituents who have signed up, or opted in, that a teleforum is going to take place, and contact only 499 or fewer constituents who haven't signed up.

It's hard to tell if the process of revising the regulations that Representative Capuano discussed is complete, and we have a call in to the Committee on House Administration press secretary to learn the status of the revision process.

Since Walz only holds face-to-face town hall meetings, the answer will be more relevant for voters in the Second and Sixth, where John Kline and Michele Bachmann have substituted the new technology for the more traditional meetings.

In Brian Davis on Franking Privileges, our friend Hal Kimball at Blue Man noted in May that Davis had complained about the perceived advantage of Walz's franked mass communications to residents in the First. With the blackout now in place until after the general election, Davis's perceived disadvantage is largely moot.

Image: 19th Century Harper's cartoon, "Beauties of the Franking Privilege."

Sunlight Foundation earmark disclosure project notes Walz's online list

We just received a kind note from the Sunlight Foundation about its Earmark Disclosure Project. The goals for the project are described in a blog post by Bill Allison:

We think, at a bare minimum, lawmakers–both Senators and Representatives–should release the same information that House rules require them to send to the Appropriations Committee. They should disclose the recipient of the earmark, a description of the project the earmark would fund, and the address of the recipient. They should additionally disclose the amount of money they asked for.

Congressman Walz is listed as a congressman who discloses his earmarks online; the site links to his earmarks. Open and transparent.

More about the number of lawmakers who disclose, from Allison's blog post:

. . .So let’s see if, while we’re waiting for the official disclosures from the committees, we can prevail upon members to be a bit more forthcoming. Sunlight, in conjunction with Taxpayers for Common Sense and Citizens Against Government Waste is asking for your help to reveal which lawmakers post their earmark requests online.There are a small number of lawmakers—some 46 of them—who have posted some information about their earmark requests to their official Web sites. [emphasis added] We are providing a list of them that includes links to the their requests. We also list the names of 46 other members who say they won’t request any earmarks. . . .

In addition to disclosing his earmark requests, Tim Walz supports earmark reform.  Even some of the more conservative newspapers in the district have noted the common-sense nature of Walz's request. A good example is the Owatonna People's Press editorial about the budget request for a flood mitigation project: An earmark that makes sense.

Update: Politico reports on a little sunlight of another kind in Dems who flipped on FISA immunity see more telecom cash.  Walz voted against telecom immunity last week and The Hill posted his statement in one of its blogs.

 

Watch now: Committee Holds Hearing on Grantmaking Practices at the Department of Justice

In Walz brings DOJ grant process to Waxman's attention, posted back in May, we wrote about how the WSU-based National Child Protection Training Center was denied grants by the DOJ, despite the program's grant application received a high score for grant evaluators. Instead, grants went to youth golf programs and other projects--often run by administration cronies.

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing titled, “Examining Grantmaking Practices at the Department of Justice” on Thursday, June 19, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. 

Watch video of the hearing that's taking place right now.

Chairman Waxman's opening statement:

At today’s hearing, the Oversight Committee will examine the process used by the Justice Department to award millions of dollars in grants to organizations that address national juvenile justice initiatives. These grant awards were made by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which is headed by Administrator J. Robert Flores. Mr. Flores is here today, and I thank him for testifying and for his cooperation in our inquiry.

This Committee has held many hearings on waste, fraud, and abuse in federal contracting. We’ve also held hearings on waste, fraud, and abuse in other types of programs, such as crop insurance and workers’ compensation insurance.

But we have held few hearings on abuses in federal grants. In 2006, the federal government spent $419 billion on federal contracts. It spent even more — $488 billion — on federal grants. So examination of waste, fraud, and abuse in grant programs is a high priority.

My staff has prepared a supplemental memorandum for members summarizing what we have learned from our investigation. I ask that the memo and the documents and transcripts it cites be made part of the hearing record.

Last year, the Justice Department held a competition to select worthy grants for funding juvenile justice programs. Over 100 applicants submitted proposals. Career staff at the Justice Department then conducted a peer review of these applications, grading them against criteria in the Department’s public solicitation and ranking them according to their numerical scores.

Of the 104 proposals, the career staff ranked 18 as the best qualified for funding. Mr. Flores largely ignored these recommendations. He did not fund the top-ranked program; he did not fund the second highest-ranked program. In fact, he did not fund any of the top five programs. Of the 18 organizations recommended for funding by the career staff, only five were awarded funds.

Instead, Mr. Flores chose to give the majority of the grant funding to five programs that his staff had not recommended for funding. One was an abstinence-only program. Two were faith-based programs. Another was a golf program. What’s more, they appeared to have special access to Mr. Flores that other applicants were denied.

Mr. Flores awarded a $1.1 million grant to the Best Friends Foundation, an abstinence-only organization, that ranked 53 out of 104 applications. The career staff who reviewed this application said it was “poorly written,” “had no focus,” “was illogical,” and “made no sense.” Documents provided to the Committee show that while the grant was being developed and competed, Mr. Flores had multiple contacts with Elayne Bennett, the founder and chairman of Best Friends and the wife of Bill Bennett, who worked in the Reagan and Bush Administrations.

Mr. Flores also awarded a half-million dollar grant to the World Golf Foundation that ranked 47 out of 104. Mr. Flores says that despite the application’s low ranking, the grant was awarded on the merits. But the record before the Committee raises questions that need to be addressed. We know that Mr. Flores traveled to Florida in 2006 to visit foundation officials and play golf. We know that Mr. Flores directed his staff to help the group with its proposal. And we know that before the peer review process even began, a senior career official wrote that he was “certain” the group would be funded because Mr. Flores’s chief of staff “has said as much.”

And Mr. Flores awarded a $1.2 million grant to Urban Strategies LLC, a consulting firm, and Victory Outreach, a “church-oriented Christian ministry called to the task of evangelizing.” This grant application also received a low ranking: 44 out of 104 applications. But the head of Urban Strategies was Lisa Cummins, who formerly worked in the White House Office of Faith Based Initiatives. Documents provided to the Committee show that Ms. Cummins had several high-level meetings with Mr. Flores and other Justice Department officials before and after receiving the grant.

On the other hand, the Justice Research and Statistics Association was the top scoring group out of the 104 applicants. It scored a 98 and was universally praised by career employees for its effectiveness and good work. It provides training and technical assistance to state juvenile corrections workers. But it was not selected or funded.

There is no question that Mr. Flores had discretion to award grants. He is entitled to use his experience and judgment in determining which grant applications to fund. But he has an obligation to make these decisions based on merit, facts, and fairness. And the reasoning for his decision must be transparent and available to the public.

Nearly every official the Committee spoke with, including the Justice Department peer reviewers, the civil service program managers, and the career official in charge of the solicitation, told us that Mr. Flores’s approach was neither fair nor transparent. Mr. Flores’s superior, the Assistant Attorney General, told the Committee: “I am for candor and clarity, especially when dealing with the people’s money. And that did not happen. And I am upset that it did not happen.”

The only exceptions to this view are Mr. Flores himself and Mr. Flores’s chief of staff, who has now asserted her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

Yesterday I received a letter from the nation’s oldest organization devoted to fighting juvenile delinquency: the National Council of Crime and Delinquency. The Council wrote:

We … have grave concerns about recent decisions on grant proposals and how these have hurt the credibility of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. … [We] expended substantial time and resources in good faith to prepare … proposals. Now it seems the review process was far from fair.

I hope today’s hearing can answer the question being raised by the Council and other groups. Ultimately, the issue before the Committee is whether the grant solicitation was a rigged game and whether it has best served children across our country. Today’s hearing will give members a chance to examine this important question.

Flashback: In early April we posted this:

Harpers: "More Corruption at DOJ?

At Harpers "No Comment" Scott Horton picks up on the "brazen politicization" of the Office of Juvenile Justice grant making process at the Justice department in More Corruption at Mukasey’s Justice Department?.

As we noted this morning, WSU's National Child Protection Training Center, which teaches law enforcement, teachers, social workers, prosecutors and others the best techniques for recognizing, reducing and preventing child sexual abuse. The center has received funding this year only because of earmarks requested by Senators Coleman and Klobuchar, as well as by Congressman Walz.

So what's the problem? Horton writes:

A Congressional probe has been launched by Henry Waxman’s House Oversight Committee into how Flores “bypassed the top-scoring bidders for National Juvenile Justice program grants, giving money instead to bidders that its staff ranked far lower,” Youth Today reports.

The probe was requested by Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), who was approached by administrators at Winona State University after the Youth Today story was published. The university’s proposal for its National Child Protection Training Center was ranked fourth by OJJDP staff, with an average score of 96.5, but it didn’t win a grant. The university is in Walz’s district, and he helped get the center $1.2 million in earmarks in the 2008 Justice Department budget, including $446,000 from OJJDP.

So the highly qualified, well-scored contenders didn’t get the grants.  But who did?  The Juvienation blog reports:

Meanwhile, Flores handed the bulk of the cash to lower-scoring organizations he deemed his favorites. Word has gotten out among organizations that scored high but didn’t win; some of them are furious and want OJJDP or Congress to explain the process. “We all play by the rules,” said Earl Dunlap, CEO of the National Partnership for Juvenile Services, whose losing bid ranked second out of 129. “The rules for Flores are pretty much whatever he decides when he gets out of bed in the morning.”

Flores, Boyle wrote, “has repeatedly pushed to get agency money to organizations that fit his priorities, which include faith-based programs and those that combat child sexual victimization.” Thus the low-scoring Best Friends Foundation (79.5), headed by the wife of right-wing moral crusader (and gambling addict!) Bill Bennett, won more than $1 million for its abstinence-only/anti-drug curriculum. Enough Is Enough, which combats sexual predation online–admittedly a worthy cause, but not quite in line with the historical mission of the OJJDP–took $750,000. The faith-based Victory Outreach Special Services got a windfall of $1.2 million but had to turn down the grant because, Boyle noted, “it doesn’t have the organizational capacity to carry it out.”

Horton observes:

The Flores contract awards help us understand once more exactly how the Justice Department defines “public integrity.” Doling out public funds to your political retainers and friends and circumventing a legally mandated public competition system is how the Republican Party and its minions understand the political game is to be played. It would be “corrupt” if Democrats played by these rules, of course, but the rules are suspended for the G.O.P. And what better venue to use to dole out contracts to political friends and retainers than the Department of Justice itself?

 

 

Early afternoon news digest: Father's Day edition

Today is Father's Day; we hope our readers are enjoying the day with their families.

The Winona Daily News reports in Coleman pledges bipartisan bridge aid:

Minnesota’s congressional delegation will cross the political aisle to secure funding for bridge inspection and repairs, U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman said at a press conference with city and transportation officials Saturday morning at Levee Park. . . .

. . .Democratic Reps. Tim Walz and Jim Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, made similar statements last week. Oberstar wants to introduce a $2 billion bridge-funding package, and Walz said he’ll work to change federal guidelines to reimburse Winona for shuttle expenses.

MnDOT will likely expedite a previous plan to replace the Interstate Bridge, originally scheduled for replacement in 2017, Coleman said.. . .

Congressman Walz is looking for ideas about how to curb wasteful spending. We found this June 12 press release via Nexis-Lexis:

Over the next few weeks, I will be developing legislation to eliminate wasteful spending and unnecessary tax breaks for corporations, in order to use the savings for other important national priorities.

Since I came to Congress last year, I have worked to take bring common-sense ideas from southern Minnesota to Washington and put them into action. From my Farm Bill amendments to help young farmers get their start in agriculture, to my Wind Energy Promotion Act that will provide clean, renewable energy, some of my top priorities in Congress began with an idea someone in southern Minnesota shared with me in a grocery store or over a cup of coffee.

So, I need your help in identifying examples of unnecessary, duplicative, or wasteful government spending that can be eliminated from the federal budget. This is critically important as I work to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington. Please click here to share your thoughts with me.

Walz's congressional office contacts are found here.

Image: Norman Rockwell's "2 o'clock"

Post Bulletin editorial: Hormel Institute earmarks pass muster

The Rochester Post Bulletin approves of earmarks for the Hormel Institute's war on cancer:

Someday, Austin and Hormel might be more associated with cancer research than with Spam.

OK, that might be a bit of a stretch, but don't be too quick to laugh off the possibility -- especially if U.S. Rep. Tim Walz succeeds in his efforts to bring $5 million in federal funding to the Hormel Institute's International Center of Research Technology.

Those dollars, combined with more than $1.4 million raised by local residents and a $5 million pledge from Hormel for the institute's ongoing $20 million expansion, would help make Austin a major player in the fight against cancer. More than 100 jobs would be created here, and the positive economic impact would be felt throughout our business community, school district and residential neighborhoods.

So, as popular as it is in an election year to rant about politicians who try to bring home money for "pork-barrel" projects, this "earmark" is one that passes muster. City residents have bought into it, the city's largest employer has invested in it, it will be good for the local and state economies, and the entire country -- perhaps the entire world -- stands to benefit from the discoveries scientists will make in Austin.

The only way this project comes close to "pork" is in the institute's proximity to Hormel.

Photo: Dr. Dong, head of the Hormel Institute. He wowed us in his presentation in Mankato today.

Another common sense earmark: Austin's Hormel Institute

While some conservatives think they're scoring points with simplistic kvetching about "earmarks" all being the equivalent of the famous "bridge to nowhere" sought by Alaska Republican Don Young, it's becoming increasingly clear that some earmarks just make sense.

Yesterday's Owatonna People's Press made that point in an editorial about federal funding for a flood mitigation project in the Steel County city: An Earmark That Makes Sense. The editorial concluded:

". . .there are times when the projects are worthwhile. The earmark that Mr. Walz has proposed for Owatonna is one such case. What makes it important is that it is not a bridge to nowhere, but funds which will help a community prevent flooding and help residents keep their homes from being damaged. Keeping people and their property safe from the ravages of Mother Nature seems a worthwhile goal for the government."

Yesterday, Congressman Walz visited the Hormel Center, another project that seeks to protect people from the ravages of Mother Nature. This time, though,  the project addresses a different threat than flood waters.

Cancer.

The Rochester Post Bulletin reports in Walz tours Hormel Institute:

Walz said he will keep pushing for the institute to receive a $5 million federal earmark in 2009 to help pay for equipment and instruments in its new International Center of Research Technology. The center could cost as much as $10 million, with additional costs of staff, other instruments and possibly more space.

Cancer research

Officials are pitching the center as a place for biomedical researchers from the nation and world to use in finding a cancer cure.

Walz said the outcome of the new funding request should be known in a year.

"This is a story that I tell often in Washington," Walz said. "And I think that you should never take for granted that this is a very unique thing that happened here -- very unique operation, very visionary."

Austin is remaking itself and taking a proactive role, he said.

The Hormel Institute is in the process of a $20 million expansion and makeover project that will triple its size. A grand opening is set for Oct. 3, a day before it hosts the eighth international Skin Carcinogenesis Conference.

Overall, more than 100 new jobs are expected to emerge in Austin with the institute's expansion and proposed research center.

Local residents raised more than $1.4 million for the institute's expansion, topping a $1 million goal. The expansion also got $425,000 in federal funds secured last year by Walz.

"This is one of the premiere research institutions in the world," Walz said.

While the Hormel Institute is next to the Hormel Foods' corporate center, the paper notes that the project is part of the University of Minnesota. The Institute's web site adds that the research center collaborates with the Mayo Clinic.

Not only does the Institute pursue vital research, it's a key piece in Southern Minnesota's development as a center for bioscience and biobusiness:

Just as the computer industry took off in California's Silicon Valley, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz thinks southern Minnesota is positioned for similar success with bioscience research.

Walz, a DFLer from Mankato, said Wednesday during a tour of the Hormel Institute that it's an exciting time for the region.

Walz viewed the newly expanded institute with various other local officials, including Jeffrey Ettinger, chief executive officer of Hormel Foods Corp. Reporters weren't allowed on the tour.

Ettinger furthered the computer-industry comparison in a compliment to the institute's executive director, Dr. Zigang Dong.

"He's Austin's Bill Gates," Ettinger said.

More below the fold.

OPP editorial: Common sense earmarks

While both of the First District Republicans sparring over their party's nomination grandstand about earmarks, Congressman Walz has been transparent about his budget requests, while supporting earmark reform.

Last week, he visited Owatonna to look at the neighborhood for which he's requested funding for a flood control project. The area was flooded twice last year.

The fairly conservative Owatonna People's Press is no fan of earmarks, but in today's editorial, the paper's board praises the project in An Earmark That Makes Sense, concluding:

. . .there are times when the projects are worthwhile. The earmark that Mr. Walz has proposed for Owatonna is one such case. What makes it important is that it is not a bridge to nowhere, but funds which will help a community prevent flooding and help residents keep their homes from being damaged. Keeping people and their property safe from the ravages of Mother Nature seems a worthwhile goal for the government.

Shhh...VA head Peake apologizes to Congressmen Walz and Mitchell

The day after a stand-off between law enforcement and an Iraq War veteran was (thank God) resolved peacefully in Mankato, we find a story in a Texas newspaper, Committee chairman accuses VA of criminal neglience.

We hope Minnesotans will be able to read this story from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram in their local papers:

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs' top mental health official said Tuesday he made a poor choice of words when he sent his colleagues an e-mail about suicide data that started out with "Shh!"

Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's mental health director, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee that the e-mail was in poor tone - even though the body contained "appropriate, healthy dialogue" about the data.

"I deeply regret the subject line," Katz said. "It was an error and I apologize for that."

The e-mail claims 12,000 veterans a year attempt suicide while under department treatment. "Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?" the e-mail asks.

The e-mail was among those recently disclosed during a trial in San Francisco that suggested some at the VA might have been attempting to hide the number of attempted suicides by those under the agency's care. Its disclosure prompted two Democratic senators to call for his resignation.

At the White House, press secretary Dana Perino said Bush has "full confidence in Secretary Peake and believes that he is handling it appropriately."

"President Bush is very concerned about the mental health of our veterans and has made sure that we are doing everything we can to make sure that American veterans are getting the care that they need," Perino said. "He's also been very troubled by the idea that veterans would feel that they wouldn't be able to express or ask for help if they are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression of another sort or any type of mental disorder. Because we have resources to be able to help them and they deserve the very best that we can provide."

The committee's chairman, Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., accused Katz of being more concerned about how data was interpreted than the health of veterans. He also said Katz - as well as others involved - should be fired. He accused the agency of criminal negligence in the handling of data about the number of veterans who have committed suicide, and of having a history of cover-ups.

"I want to know if you're really going to take your role seriously," Filner said to Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake, who started in December.

Peake said the reason the data discussed in the e-mail about the number of suicide attempts was not released was because of concerns about its accuracy. After the hearing, he told reporters he did not plan to fire Katz or other officials over the e-mails. He said everyone has sent an embarrassing e-mail at some point.

"It truly was an unfortunate set of words," Peake said.

During the hearing, Peake apologized to Reps. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., who complained the VA was not giving them information they requested. Mitchell, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations, said he was told he would need to file a freedom of information act request to get some data he wanted. (emphasis ours)

Peake said he wants the agency to be more forthcoming and transparent.

He also sought to set the record straight about the number of veterans committing suicide. He said of the nearly 500,000 veterans who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq and then left the military from 2002-2005, 144 had taken their own lives. He said that rate was slightly higher than would be expected in the comparable general population, but it was not a statistically significant amount.

The judge in San Francisco has not ruled in the lawsuit filed in federal court by two veterans groups, Veterans for Common Sense in Washington and Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Veterans United for Truth. The suit asks a judge to order the agency to improve its mental health care.

The toll free Veterans Affairs Department suicide hotline number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Tennessean: panel best bet to end wasteful spending

In Bipartisan panel is best bet yet to end wasteful spending, the Tennessean 's editorial board argues in favor of legislation Congressman Walz is co-sponsoring:

. . .[E]arlier this month,  [Jim] Cooper joined fellow Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wis., Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md., Melissa Bean, D-Ill., Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Timothy Walz, D-Minn., to sponsor legislation calling for an independent commission to recommend changes to the process.

If approved, the Bipartisan Earmark Reform Commission Act of 2008 would create a 12-member panel appointed by majority and minority leaders in Congress. The members would include lawmakers and other individuals, and consist of Democrats and Republicans.

The panel would study and hold hearings on what constitutes pork spending, who benefits and the impact on the federal budget. At the end of six months, the panel would make recommendations to the president and Congress. And Congress would have 60 days to act on those recommendations.

While such panels don't always achieve what they set out to do, this holds hope for the best attempt yet to deal with unaccountable waste at the federal level. Not only would this panel have bipartisan makeup, seven of the 12 would not be lawmakers themselves. . . .

The Tennessean is Nashville's daily newspaper, a part of the Gannett chain.

Walz supports earmark reform legislation

The Walz congressional office sent the following press release about earmark reform:

Walz Co-sponsors Legislation to Require Transparency in Congressional Earmark Process
Legislation would require all Members to make public information similar to what Walz already discloses

(Washington D.C) - After taking the unusual step for the last two years of releasing his appropriation requests to the public, Congressman Walz announced today that he is supporting two pieces of legislation in Congress that will change the way all Members of Congress request federal money and require all Members of Congress to follow his lead in making their earmark requests transparent and publically available.

"The appropriations process has been abused in the past, so I believe it should be completely in the light of day," said Walz, who was the only member of the Minnesota Congressional delegation to publicly release his appropriations requests last year. "The Democratic Majority implemented new rules last year that require each Member's name to be attached to any request that is funded, and Members of Congress must publicly certify that they do not have any financial interest in the project they are requesting. Those were great first steps."

Walz continued, "In order for all Members of Congress to be more transparent and accountable for the money they are requesting, I have co-sponsored two bills introduced in Congress by Representatives Boyda and Kind. This legislation would require unprecedented transparency from all Members of Congress and would create a bipartisan, independent commission to examine congressional and executive earmark practices."

Representative Boyda's resolution (H.Res 1072 ) would require all Representatives to disclose their requests for federal earmarks on their Congressional websites within 24 hours.   Each description must include the earmark's proposed recipient, the amount requested, the project name, and additional background information.

Representatives Kind's bill, the Earmark Reform Commission Act of 2008 (H. Res 5755) would establish a newly formed commission to investigate the use of earmarks and recommend to Congress additional reforms that may be necessary.

We wrote about this topic in a post last week.

AP and CQPolitics: Walz and Ramstad propose earmark reform

(Hat tip to Polinaut) Along with fellow Minnesotan Jim Ramstad, Walz has joined a bi-partisan group of Representatives advocating earmark reform.  The AP story from the LaCrosse Tribune:

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, is one of several members of Congress calling for creation of a bipartisan commission to recommend reforms on Congressional spending for pet projects, commonly referred to as earmarks.

Kind — along with U.S. Reps. Tim Walz, D-Minn.; Jim Ramstad R-Minn.; Jim Cooper D-Tenn.; Melissa Bean, D-Ill.; Mark Udall, D-Colo.; and Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md. — on Tuesday introduced the Bipartisan Earmark Reform Commission Act of 2008.
“Abuse of the earmarking system has eroded the public’s trust in the process and overshadowed the worthy projects earmarks often fund,” said Kind, who has imposed a one-year moratorium on his own earmark requests while he works to reform the process.

“From a ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ to a rainforest in Iowa — any member of Congress, whether they are an advocate or foe of earmarks, needs to be accountable to the taxpayers for the staggering growth in earmark spending,” Kind said in a statement. The commission would examine:

Disparities in funding across communities and regions;

The practice of securing earmarks for for-profit companies;

The impact of earmarks on the federal budget; and

The usefulness and sufficiency of current disclosure requirements.

“This is clearly a bipartisan problem perpetuated by both the Congress and the White House, and it requires a bipartisan solution,” Kind said. “This type of ‘ATM politics’ is threatening good government.”

And from CQ Politics, there's Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Bill on Overhauling Earmarks Process:

House Democratic leaders gave little indication Tuesday of what changes, if any, they plan to make to the earmark process this year. But that has not stopped members of both parties from pushing for commissions and committees to study the issue and propose changes.

The latest effort — a bipartisan one — was spearheaded by Rep. Ron Kind , D-Wis., and proposes an independent commission to study the earmarking process in both Congress and the executive branch.

The commission would be charged with examining disparities in funding, the practice of securing earmarks for for-profit companies, the impact of earmarks on the budget and the effectiveness of current disclosure requirements.

Among other things, the commission would consider whether earmarks could be allocated based on merit or if a competitive grant process could be used for grant funding, effectively altering the very definition of earmarks as they are now understood.

The commission would be required to report its findings and recommendations within six months, with legislation incorporating the recommendations to be introduced within two months thereafter.

Kind’s bill has four Democratic cosponsors: Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Melissa Bean of Illinois, Mark Udall of Colorado and Tim Walz of Minnesota.

Two Republicans, both of whom are leaving at the end of this Congress, also are cosponsors: Jim Ramstad of Minnesota and Wayne T. Gilchrest of Maryland.

In a conference call with reporters, Kind and Cooper stressed the bipartisan nature of their bill and their hopes that it will be taken seriously.

“Congress needs to stop and re-evaluate the way we appropriate money for projects around the country,” Cooper said. “We shouldn’t wait for another indictment to be handed down before demonstrating that we take stewardship of taxpayer money seriously.”

Read the rest below the fold.

Harpers: "More Corruption" at DOJ?

At Harpers "No Comment,"  Scott Horton picks up on the "brazen politicization" of the Office of Juvenile Justice grant making process at the Justice department in More Corruption at Mukasey’s Justice Department?.

As we noted this morning, WSU's National Child Protection Training Center, which teaches law enforcement, teachers, social workers, prosecutors and others the best techniques for recognizing, reducing and preventing child sexual abuse. The center has received funding this year only because of earmarks requested by Senators Coleman and Klobuchar, as well as by Congressman Walz.

So what's the problem? Horton writes:

A Congressional probe has been launched by Henry Waxman’s House Oversight Committee into how Flores “bypassed the top-scoring bidders for National Juvenile Justice program grants, giving money instead to bidders that its staff ranked far lower,” Youth Today reports.

The probe was requested by Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), who was approached by administrators at Winona State University after the Youth Today story was published. The university’s proposal for its National Child Protection Training Center was ranked fourth by OJJDP staff, with an average score of 96.5, but it didn’t win a grant. The university is in Walz’s district, and he helped get the center $1.2 million in earmarks in the 2008 Justice Department budget, including $446,000 from OJJDP.

So the highly qualified, well-scored contenders didn’t get the grants.  But who did?  The Juvienation blog reports:

Meanwhile, Flores handed the bulk of the cash to lower-scoring organizations he deemed his favorites. Word has gotten out among organizations that scored high but didn’t win; some of them are furious and want OJJDP or Congress to explain the process. “We all play by the rules,” said Earl Dunlap, CEO of the National Partnership for Juvenile Services, whose losing bid ranked second out of 129. “The rules for Flores are pretty much whatever he decides when he gets out of bed in the morning.”

Flores, Boyle wrote, “has repeatedly pushed to get agency money to organizations that fit his priorities, which include faith-based programs and those that combat child sexual victimization.” Thus the low-scoring Best Friends Foundation (79.5), headed by the wife of right-wing moral crusader (and gambling addict!) Bill Bennett, won more than $1 million for its abstinence-only/anti-drug curriculum. Enough Is Enough, which combats sexual predation online–admittedly a worthy cause, but not quite in line with the historical mission of the OJJDP–took $750,000. The faith-based Victory Outreach Special Services got a windfall of $1.2 million but had to turn down the grant because, Boyle noted, “it doesn’t have the organizational capacity to carry it out.”

Horton observes:

The Flores contract awards help us understand once more exactly how the Justice Department defines “public integrity.” Doling out public funds to your political retainers and friends and circumventing a legally mandated public competition system is how the Republican Party and its minions understand the political game is to be played. It would be “corrupt” if Democrats played by these rules, of course, but the rules are suspended for the G.O.P. And what better venue to use to dole out contracts to political friends and retainers than the Department of Justice itself?

Juvienation: Funding whomever the Bush appointee favors

We've posted in the past about WSU's National Child Protection Training Center, which teaches law enforcement, teachers, social workers, prosecutors and others the best techniques for recognizing, reducing and preventing child sexual abuse. The center has received funding through earmarks requested by Senators Coleman and Klobuchar, as well as by Congressman Walz.

Members of Minnesota's congressional delegation sought money for the center after the Department of Justice turned it down for federal grant funding, despite its application's high scoring by reviewers.

So which grants did the administrator at the DOJ's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention pick to fund in its stead?  Juvienation, Mark Sorkin's blog that covers juvenile justice issues, tells a story of Cronyism at the OJJDP:

Youth Today editor Patrick Boyle, who broke the story, has done something only top-notch investigative reporters do: earn the attention of government watchdog Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In the January issue of Youth Today, Boyle ran a long story with the headline “For Juvenile Justice, a Panel of One” . . .[subscription only]

. . .The story exposed rampant cronyism on the part of J. Robert Flores, a Bush appointee who has headed the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, a Justice Department agency, since 2002. Last spring, Boyle reported, the OJJDP posted a request for proposals that was surprisingly broad and that made a generous amount of money available to prospective grantees. “After years of seeing almost all of its discretionary funds eaten up by congressional earmarks, the agency now had millions of dollars to award through competitive bidding, thanks to the slashing of nearly all earmarks in fiscal 2007,” Boyle wrote.Juvenile justice organizations flocked, but their enthusiasm was misplaced. “A dozen organizations won grants without competitive bidding,” Boyle noted. The scoring system to assess bids for competitive grants was problematic (managed by agency staff, lacking in peer review, rushed), and anyway, it was disregarded. None of the six top-scoring organizations were awarded grants; twenty-one bids that scored 90 or higher (out of 100) were similarly denied. . . .

. . .Flores, Boyle wrote, “has repeatedly pushed to get agency money to organizations that fit his priorities, which include faith-based programs and those that combat child sexual victimization.” Thus the low-scoring Best Friends Foundation (79.5), headed by the wife of right-wing moral crusader (and gambling addict!) Bill Bennett, won more than $1 million for its abstinence-only/anti-drug curriculum. Enough Is Enough, which combats sexual predation online–admittedly a worthy cause, but not quite in line with the historical mission of the OJJDP–took $750,000. The faith-based Victory Outreach Special Services got a windfall of $1.2 million but had to turn down the grant because, Boyle noted, “it doesn’t have the organizational capacity to carry it out.” Meanwhile, well-known, well-reputed, high-scoring organizations that do have the capacity to serve honest-to-goodness juvenile justice needs–like Dunlap’s National Partnership for Juvenile Services and Barry Krisberg’s National Council on Crime and Delinquency, among many others–got a big bag of bubkes.

When Minnesota Democratic Representative Tim Walz got word of this scandal, he requested an investigation into possible violation of the OJJDP bidding process. (Winona State University, whose National Child Protection Training Center ranked fourth but received no grant money, is in his district.) As Boyle reported in a follow-up article, Waxman’s House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ably stepped in on March 13 . . .

We're still trying to figure out what the specific problem with Congressman Walz's earmarks is, being that they support child protection, roads to somewhere, renewable energy research,  veterans reintegration, the Lewis & Clark Water Rural Water Project and other worthy projects. And Congressman Walz is quite open with his list of requests.

Perhaps the endorsed "family values" candidate or party rebel Dick Day, his GOP primary challenger, can explain to voters why Congressman Walz, Senator Klobuchar, and their own Senator Coleman, shouldn't have gone to bat for the National Child Protection Training Center. We'd like to hear it specifically discussed, rather than an abstract ideological litany about the funding process.

We note, too, that for Walz, securing funding for the Center wasn't enough. Upon learning of the OJJDP bidding process scandal, he requested an investigation of the process to help ensure that tax dollars go to grant proposals that have merit, rather than just friends in high places.

Walz brings DOJ grant process to Waxman's attention

Government Executive staff writer Peter Cohn reports on an investigation into the way the Department of  Justice picked winner and losers in  Justice Department grant process gets Waxman's attention. It's an interesting look at the question of earmarks. Would government agencies make better choices about spending than representatives and senators?

Here are the details:

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is investigating how a Justice Department agency awarded grants in fiscal 2007, when most federal agencies operated with a freer hand under the yearlong earmark moratorium Democrats imposed.

Waxman wrote to Attorney General Michael Mukasey March 13 requesting a briefing no later than Friday -- and related documents by April 4 -- in response to reports that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awarded noncompetitive grants in fiscal 2007 to less-qualified applicants.

Citing a recent investigation by the trade publication Youth Today, Waxman noted that in fiscal 2007 the the office awarded a $500,000 grant to the World Golf Foundation, even though its application was ranked lower than 38 other bids in a review done by career Justice Department officials. . . .

. . .Waxman said the situation was brought to light by Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., a freshman who complained that a worthy applicant in his district was unfairly shut out of the grant-making process in fiscal 2007. An aide to Walz said his interest was piqued when OJJDP ignored a request to direct money to the National Child Protection Training Center at Winona State University, even though it ranked fourth out of more than 100 applicants in the agency's review.

The center trains social workers, teachers, nurses, police officers and others to detect and respond to signs of child abuse. The funding was dropped when the OJJDP administrator made the final decisions. Walz and other Minnesota lawmakers successfully restored about $1.2 million for the center in the fiscal 2008 omnibus appropriations bill, including $446,000 funded through OJJDP. . . .

We make no secret of the fact that we're a big fan of the WSU-based National Child Protection Training Center. Congressman Walz worked with Senators Coleman and Klobuchar to get their earmarks funded for this highly respected program. It's incredible that a bureaucrat would pick a lower-rated program over the NCPTC's work to protect kids.

Waxman has requested documents related to the grant-making process as his committee moves to investigate the situation.

At News Cut, we find Higher ed earmarks explored by blogger Bob Collins. Collins points out that the negative tone of the report he's reviewing; however, he recommends lassessing the actual grants themselves.

The National Child Protection Training Center's earmarks are among the seven requested by Walz. Here's the list of Walz's higher ed earmarks.  We're struck by the fact that all but one (for the Hormel Institute, a cancer research center) enjoy bipartisan support. When the GOP contenders for endorsement in the First decry earmarks, do they include Senator Coleman in their scolding of Congressman Walz?

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System Office		Education	$1,099,451	for a program for rapid employment services for veterans	Rep. Walz (D.) Rep. Peterson (D) Sen. Klobuchar (D) Sen. Coleman (R)
Minnesota State University at Mankato		Energy	$492,000 shared	to be shared with Minnesota West Community and Technical College, for cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel research at the Minnesota Center for Renewable Energy	Rep. Walz (D) Sen. Coleman (R.) Sen. Klobuchar (D)
Minnesota West Community and Technical College		Energy	$492,000 shared	to be shared with Minnesota State University at Mankato, for cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel research at  the Minnesota Center for Renewable Energy	Rep. Walz (D) Sen. Coleman (R.) Sen. Klobuchar (D)
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities		Agriculture	$219,453	for the Uniform Farm Management Program at the Center for Farm Financial Management	Rep. Emerson (R, Mo.) Rep. Walz (D) Sen. Coleman (R) Sen. Klobuchar (D)
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities		Health and Human Services	$406,767	for facilities and equipment for the Hormel Institute's cancer research	Rep. Walz (D.)
Winona State University		Justice	$775,500	for training, technical assistance, and publications at the National Child Protection Training Center	Rep. Walz (D) Rep. Oberstar (D) Sen. Coleman (R) Sen. Klobuchar (D)
Winona State University		Justice	$446,500	to teach investigators and prosecutors the science of interviewing children victimized by abuse	Sen. Coleman (R) Sen. Klobuchar (D) Rep. Walz (D) Rep. Oberstar (D)

Update: As if on cue, Rochester Post Bulletin columnist (and Randy Demmer contributor) Philip Araoz goes after Walz on pork.  See if you can figure out why the conservative physician mentions all those state projects in order to trash the Congressman, rather than bringing up any earmarks Walz sponsored.

Mankato Free Press: Thumbs up to ethics reform

The editorial board isn't completely pleased by the compromises made in order to move on ethics reform in the House, but they're giving Walz credit for wanting stronger measures--and approving this new step:

House moves on ethics

Thumbs up

A tepid endorsement to the House, which agreed to a compromise solution to what has been a systemwide lack of ethical oversight. Some, including Rep. Tim Walz, D-Mankato, wanted to go farther, but members did manage reform by calling for a six-member Office of Congressional Ethics made up of citizens who aren’t members of Congress.

The key is that those who sit in judgment won’t be members of Congress themselves. While critics complain that “outsiders” don’t have any more ability to judge ethics than legislators, they should represent an independence that previously has been lacking.

For too often, lawmakers chosen to sit in judgment of colleagues have appeared to be more interested in protecting their own and showing exaggerated enthusiasm for attacking those on the other side of the aisle. We hope House leaders Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner, who are charged with choosing the new panelists, will choose truly fair, independent-minded people.