A Bluestem Prairie

Mankato Free Press: Klobuchar and Walz on road projects in recovery package

In Road projects will show neighborhood benefits; Federal funding could move up timetable on state projects, MFP reporter Mark Fischenich reports:

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Congressman Tim Walz are strong supporters of an economic stimulus package focused on improving infrastructure — saying it will bring immediate job creation and a much-needed upgrade of the nation’s aging bridges, roads, rail lines, schools and other physical facilities.

“I just think this is a really smart way to get the country moving again,” said Klobuchar, a first-term Democrat.

Walz, DFL-Mankato, said the idea is also more likely to generate public support compared to previous stimulus plans aimed at finance services companies, other Wall Street firms and the automobile industry.

“‘It’s going to be spent putting my neighbors back to work, repaving streets in my neighborhood,’” Walz said, summarizing how he expects people to react. “They can understand that.”

Which is more than can be said of the complex financial bailouts that directed hundreds of billions of dollars toward banks and financial services firms — often with questionable levels of accountability, he said.

Walz and Klobuchar said they’re hopeful that even small projects like city street resurfacing will benefit from the plan, which they expect to be a top priority in the first days of the new Obama administration.

There's more at the Mankato Free Press. Update: A second article,  Pump is ready to be primed tells more of the story and the Free Press editorial board supports the idea in Road, bridge work makes sense for stimulus. [end update]

Photo: Can an economic stimulus package fix a bridge near you?

Monday morning digest: forget Paris edition

The editorial at the Winona Daily News is mighty ticked off at the U.S. bailout: A golden fleecing.  A taste:

. . .Using scare tactics and worse-case scenarios, leaders in Congress including Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman and Wisconsin Rep. Ron Kind told us that we simply must ship billions of dollars as quickly as possible to the Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke or else the economy was going to crash and burn. Even worse than it already had. . . .

. . .The bailout package has been a textbook example of how many wrongs by the government doesn’t make anything right. The administration, along with a Democratically controlled Congress, scared the American people into signing a blank check with a few vague promises. The administration insisted that too much oversight on people like Paulson and Bernanke would only hurt the American economy. And now the American public isn’t even getting what it was sold — help to homeowners and taxpayers who got tangled up into this strange mortgage crisis. . . .

We're surprised that the paper doesn't remind its readers that their own Congressman voted against the bailout--twice. Re-reading Walz's October 6 column, Why I voted against the bailout bill, reminds us that the Congressman noted the very problems that the WDN board inveighs against. Walz wrote in early October:

The plan we voted on is a bad deal for the American taxpayers on several fronts:

•It lacks taxpayer protection, and there is no guarantee the American people will get their money back from Wall Street. The legislation simply requires that if, after five years, we have not gotten a good deal on our investment, the president must make a proposal for doing so. That proposal is not binding and will likely go nowhere.

•It offers no real help for homeowners. As the New York Times reported on Saturday, the way the plan is structured makes it highly unlikely that more than a handful of struggling homeowners will end up with more manageable mortgages.

•It continues to permit excessive CEO compensation by instituting so-called limits on compensation and golden parachutes that are essentially all bark and no bite. As the Washington Post puts it, "executive pay experts said the regulations are too weak to spark major reform in the way companies compensate top officers, and too narrow in scope to change the pay structure that encouraged finance executives in boom times to take on enormous risks."

•The plan proposes only weak oversight by putting enormous power in the hands of the treasury secretary, leaving an oversight board that can critique but not halt any of his actions.

Too many public opinion leaders, including those in the media, committed the cardinal sin of panicked policymaking and fiscal recklessness: They fell prey to the delusion that just throwing a lot of money at a problem would solve it. . . .

Rather than reminding the readership that the man serving many of them in congress broke with Klobuchar, Coleman and Kind, the editors throw in a generic cheap shot against all congresscritters:

Despite a lame-duck Congress and a nearly useless president, our leaders should show some kind of leadership and ask the tough questions. What are we getting for our money? Why are homeowners still aching? And who’s looking over Paulson’s shoulder?

We’re not sure what’s worse, not getting what we paid for or no one in Congress willing to speak out about how the bailout money is being used.

We understood that politicians were distracted by the recent campaigns — now what’s their excuse?

Walz wasn't distracted by his campaign--far from it. On September 24, he sent Treasury Secretary Paulson a letter including eight questions about oversight and transparency. When these questions weren't addressed to his satisfaction, he voted against both versions of the bailout package. The Strib reported that his no votes (the Strib's board favored the biils) put him in the spotlight.

We'll have his current position (not much has changed, although the guy's looking pretty prescience these days) in the article we're working on that's based on Friday's interview. We understand that the news staff and the editorial board aren't one and the same, but if the WDN wants the opinion of Winona's congressman about these things--he'll be quite happy to talking to a reporter about issues, campaign or no campaign.

These sorts of governing and policy-making issues are why we care more about what Cognressman Walz is going to do as a U.S. representative about drafting the new transportation bill, creating a job stimulus package and the like, than we do about handicapping the gubernatorial horse race.

One thing Congressman Walz champions is renewable energy. The Rochester Post Bulletin reports in Wind turbine transports on the rise:

Oversized semitrailers carrying wind turbine parts are becoming a common sight in central Minnesota.

From June through September, the Minnesota Department of Transportation reports granting more than 2,400 permits for oversized wind loads.

That kind of travel frequency is causing some safety concerns.

Ted Coulianos, a MnDOT permit supervisor, says people aren't sure how to drive when sharing the road with a semi carrying huge wind turbine parts.

But Coulianos says motorists should be prepared to see more such loads in the coming years as the demand for wind energy keeps going up.

Much of the turbine parts in the Upper Midwest arrive by ship at the Duluth port before being transported to other parts of Minnesota, Iowa and other states.

We've personally encountered at least ten of these transports in the last few months. We never had a problem figuring out how to share the road with the transports. We were far more perplexed by our questions about why the turbine parts were being shipped from Europe rather than being manufactured here in the Upper Midwest. Not only would local fabrication create jobs, but it also might serve to reduce the equipment's carbon footprint.

Workday Minnesota's article Euphoria over Obama win tempered by Senate recount cites the work done by Rochester-area labor leader Russell Hess and Southeast Area Labor Council field representative Liz McLoone in getting out labor volunteers and the vote. Hess was co-director of Minnesota Labor 2008.

The Hill cites a Walz anecdote in Dems worry they'll miss bad cop Emanuel:

Members said he had a phenomenal knowledge of their districts, and he kept up to date well after the campaign ended. Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) said one of his supporters wrote a letter to the editor of a small paper in his district, complaining about his vote on a rewrite of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Walz mentioned the letter to the editor to Emanuel on the floor and was stunned by his response.

“You mean the one about how you should caucus with the Republicans?” Emanuel shot back. “That’s a good letter. Makes you look bipartisan.”

To this day, Walz is still amazed. “He had read the letter.”

Fortunately, Walz broke with Emmanuel's assessment, and took the just criticism of his initial FISA vote by constituents to heart. He voted for the RESTORE Act in November 2007 and voted against the second bad bill that passed in June. The final bill, which authorized warrantless wiretaps, was supported by Emmanuel and Pelosi. Walz's Republican opponent told the Mankato Free Press that he would have voted for the bill.

While we at BSP are trying to focus on the coming policymaking  by the 111th congress and President Obama, others in the blogosphere are looking at the 2010 Minnesota governor's race. Mankato Free Press night editor Doug Wolter ups the stakes by proposing a Sarah Palin--Paris Hilton presidential ticket for 2012 in Celebrity politicians: It's the wave.  The silly season never ends.

Image: how quick the WDN editorial board forgets. A photo of Congressman Walz talking to constituents about the bailout appeared above the fold in the October 2 Star Tribune. The Strib chastized Walz for being "reckless" in voting against the bailout. Okay then.

We thought our readers might want to see a meme from Paris that's hot. You'll have to use your own judgment about whether La Meme is work safe:

Post-Bulletin: Walz hopes to retain committee assignments in 111th Congress

In No moves yet for Walz in Congress, the Post Bulletin's Ed Felker reports:

Southern Minnesotans decisively returned Rep. Tim Walz, D-Mankato for his second term . . .

With the dust of the campaign barely settled, it appeared Walz was set on keeping his current committee lineup and will not seek a leadership post in the new Congress.

Meredith Salsbery, Walz's press secretary, said Wednesday that he wants to remain on the Agriculture Committee, the Veterans Affairs Committee, and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The transportation committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Chisholm, plans to write a new national highways and transit bill next year that will offer committee members a chance to include local projects. "It's relevant and needed," she said of the highways bill.

Though rumors have circulated that the House might include local projects in an economic stimulus bill when it returns for a session the week of Nov. 17, Salsbery said Walz understood the opposite. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday that House Democrats will stand by the $61 billion stimulus bill passed by the chamber in September, which includes infrastructure money for states but no projects, and see if the Senate and outgoing Bush administration agree to enact the measure.

If not, the Democratic majority will write a new stimulus bill when it returns in January for the 111th Congress and deals with Democratic President-elect Barack Obama.

Salsbery said Walz has no plans to run for a leadership spot when the Democratic caucus meets during the lame duck session. He was a co-president of the Democratic freshman caucus during this first term.

Walz worked on the Farm Bill and major legislation to improve vets' benefits in his first term; spending time on the new transportation bill should appeal to his work ethic and boundless energy.

Sunday morning digest: more GOTV edition

The Owatonna People's Press reports that the congressman is seeking to expand his share of the vote in Former vice president Mondale dines with Walz supporters:

Instead of a speech, Mondale and Congressman Tim Walz spent Saturday just speaking individually to voters and eating hamburger steaks at The Kitchen. It was part of a tour around southern Minnesota to energize voters about getting out the vote.

“The case is pretty well made,” he said. “We think we’ve made a strong case to them and now we’re just into executing the get-out-the-vote effort.” . . .

. . .As a newcomer to the world of politics, Walz earned 46 percent of the Steele County vote compared to the 53 percent garnered by his Republican opponent Gil Gutknecht, the incumbent who Walz managed to unseat.

But in his first term, Walz described Owatonna as pragmatic, with voters wanting to see effectiveness. He considers the city as a “solid, middle-of-America middle-class town” and believes he can have a better showing here.

“We want to give them a good look and let them know where we stand,” Walz said.

Walz was also campaigning in Republican Dodge County yesterday, as well as Mankato and Rochester. His campaign stops contrast with those Davis has chosen, which seem to be aimed at shoring up the GOP base. Walz's schedule for today, which includes another stop in Owatonna, is here.

Brian Davis was hitting his base in Pipestone, Martin and Brown Counties, with a stab at Nobles County, the New Ulm Journal reports in Davis on the road. He does his usual denial about the down side of privatizating Social Security, while backing away from his earlier, extended flirtation with the national sales tax. Davis would still like voters to believe that the issue only came up once, but BSP readers learned better in our post Brian Davis and Minnesota's flat tax organizers.

The man who told the Mankato Free Press this week:

He also said he’s opposed on principle to the numerous tax credits available to individuals and businesses, something he considers government micro-managing of the economy

was out touting a few tax credits in Brown County, according to the Journal article:

Asked about the record third quarter profits ($14.8 billion) that Exxon reported this week, Davis said he thinks the investment tax credits oil companies received for drilling should end. But there should be incentives to encourage oil companies to go after the large amounts of U.S. oil that exists in oil shale.

And he's touting McCain's health care plan (must not have caught what McCsin's own advisor said about it)

He also favors a John McCain style of tax credit that can be used to purchase health insurance that goes from job to job, rather than expecting employers to provide health coverage.

What does Brian Davis want at this point, other than to get elected? We looked at his one-man head-on policy collision over earmarks yesterday in Davis makes sudden lane change on federal earmarks.

In an email, the Franken campaign tells us that Al will be in Rochester for a little GOTV on Monday:

MONDAY

WHO: Al Franken, Sen. Ann Lynch and former Congressman Rick Nolan
WHAT: Franken Joins Rochester GOTV Phonebank
WHEN: 9:45 am, Monday, November 3
WHERE: Rochester DFL Office
401 16th Ave NW
Rochester

In other news, we don't care whose signs a visiting prof in Northfield stole, this guy's just quite simply a blinking *hole. It's possibly even worse than the Waseca man accused of mowing down neighbor’s corn field back in July. A guest at a neighbor's party, he mowed an acre.

Wags in the Waseca County News comment section suggest that anybody who mows corn has to be plowed, though at least he wasn't stalking anyone. One wiseacre thinks the perp must have been drinking Grain Belt.

The property damage to the corn was greater than that of the signs--on the other hand, stealing a person's right to political expression dampens democracy. All puns aside, we hope the farmer recovers the lost income and Rice County throws the book at the sign stealer.

Photo: If our selfish feline friend can do his bit, you can help get out the vote, too. Volunteer via the DFL or your local candidate. Sign up to help Walz here.

And now a little White Stripes; if this tune doesn't make you want to get up and at 'em, we don't know what will:

Davis makes sudden lane change on federal earmarks...

. . .and unfortunately, much of the highway is still a two lane road. If this guy isn't careful, he'll have a head-on collision with himself.

We look forward to some more interesting moves from Brian Davis and his Campaign That Can't Shoot Straight as he tries to steer his way out of his latest "straight shooting."

Just in from the Walz campaign:

Brian Davis Flip-Flops on Funding Highway 14
His website calls for “elimination” of earmarks, while he tells Owatonna newspaper the exact opposite

( Owatonna , Minn. ) – In an interview published yesterday in the Owatonna People’s Press, Republican Congressional candidate Dr. Brian Davis completely reversed his long-standing opposition to the use of ‘earmarks,’ or spending on specific projects directed by Members of Congress.

Davis, who has previously said that Congress should “eliminate the practice of Congressional earmarks,” has now taken exactly the opposite position.  The Owatonna People’s Press reports that Davis committed in an interview that “he would secure funding [for Highway 14] ‘any way possible,’ whether it’s a stand alone bill or through federal earmarks.”

“Dr. Davis has flip-flopped on some big issues before, but this one really takes the cake,” said Chris Schmitter, campaign manager for Tim Walz.  “Over the last 14 months, Dr. Davis has repeatedly said he doesn’t believe in funding transportation projects like Highway 14 with Congressionally-directed spending.  But with three days to go before the election, Dr. Davis has decided he doesn’t believe that any more.”

“There’s nothing harder than getting a straight answer out of Dr. Davis,” continued Schmitter.  “He said a new 23% national sales tax is ‘a good idea,’ before backtracking and saying he doesn’t necessarily support it.  He says he’s proud of southern Minnesota ’s farm and ranch families, but refuses to say if he would have supported the Farm Bill they rely on.  Who knows what he’ll change his mind about next?”

As of this morning, Dr. Davis’s website still says he believes “we need to eliminate the practice of Congressional ‘earmarks.’”

Davis’s Website Calls For End To Earmarks.  "There are three simple steps Congress must enact. First, Congress should pass a new federal Taxpayer Bill of Rights, limiting the growth of spending. Second, we need to eliminate the practice of Congressional 'earmarks'. Third, the President must be given line-item veto authority to cut out wasteful Congressional spending." [briandavisforcongress.com, accessed 2/05/08]

Davis Said We Need A Line Item Veto To Eliminate Earmarks. Davis said, "We should make sure that government lives within its means….We need first off on a national level, a line item veto. That's where when someone say like Tim Walz puts an earmark, or one of his buddies puts an earmark, into a bill late at night. The president has to decide whether to sign the whole bill or not and there is some extra spending in there it gives the president a difficult decision right now. It'd be nice if the President, whether it's a democrat or a republican, or an independent, could go in their and just cross it out and make it much easier." [Winona Youth GOP Debate, 2/7/08]

Davis Criticized Congress For Failing To Eliminate Earmarks.  "Davis says one of his biggest complaints of the current Democratic-led Congress is its failure to eliminate pork-barrel spending. Democrats campaigned on a pledge to clean up earmarks and wasteful spending, yet pork barrel spending continues, he said." [Rochester Post Bulletin, 8/16/07]

Davis Says He Would Use Earmarks to Fund Highway 14. "Davis said Highway 14 is impractical to drive on currently and would consider it the most important transportation issue he would improve. He would secure funding 'any way possible' whether it’s a stand alone bill or through federal earmarks." [Owatonna People's Press, 10/31/08]

A Republican friend tells us that Brian Davis supported his claims of support for gun rights by telling the GOP activist base that he would go down to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to shoot skeet with a friend. We had no idea that people in that region had such a different definition of straight shooting. 

Photo: Highway 14. Photo by Minnesota Public Radio. Does Davis even know what lane he's driving in when it comes to his own positions?                         

Thursday mid-day digest: crunch time edition

[update] The Repede Family blogs about Pancakes with Al and Tim in Rochester this morning. Lots of pictures [end update]

Fifty-two years ago today, our father stopped by the maternity ward of Mankato's Immanuel Hospital to see our mom and us, then went back out to canvas the streets of the Key City for Dwight Eisenhower's re-election campaign.

Since then, attitudes about fathers' roles in birthing have changed. We don't know any man who wasn't at the side of the mother of his child--with the exception of a couple of guys in the Army and National Guard, who weren't happy at being away but understood their duty.

But the crunch time of GOTV has remained a constant companion on our birthday in even-numbered years. We urge everyone to get out and volunteer--whether by phone banking, doorknocking, stufing packets, or making food for the hordes of volunteers who are giving their time in this important election.

There will be work to do on Election Day as well; one task is driving voters to the poll. If you're civic minded but not into political parties, consider volunteering for this GOTV work.  Non-profits in Minnesota can hook you up with non-partisan GOTV volunteer opportunities.

We wouldn't want anyone to have to give that greedy cat a burger in order to exercise his or her right to vote.

The MinnPost's Joe Kimball reports Al Franken has a very 'full plate' today. The menu:  breakfast pancakes in Rochester and lunch chili in Owatonna with Congressman Walz. There'll be a rally at MSU-Mankato at 3 p.m. The MSU Reporter provides details in Frenzied final days: Franken and Walz wil stop at MSU today during tour:

Minnesota's Democratic nominee for U.S Senate, Al Franken, will be on campus today along with fellow Democrat Tim Walz, a candidate for the House of Representatives.

The event will take place at 3 p.m. in the Minnesota State Centennial Student Union Ballroom.

Yesterday's rally at Winona State with Al Franken has garnered some attention. WKBT in LaCrosse reports Al Franken Campaigns in Winona. The Winona Daily News reports Al Franken campaigns at WSU.

The Owatonna People's Press reports in Press conference held for Walz on Owatonna:

John Rassieur of Owatonna, Carl Witty of Kasson and Laura Askelin of Rochester participate in a press conference Wednesday in Owatonna to support Congressman Tim Walz, and to criticize a national sales tax supported by Walz’s Republican opponent Dr. Brian Davis. Walz was not in Owatonna Wednesday to participate in the press conference, but will be appearing with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken at 11:45 a.m. today at the Owatonna Elks Club.

Our readers may remember that Congressman Walz returned $100,000 of the money allocated to his office for 2007 to the U.S. treasury. That contrasts sharply with a story at the Minnesota Independent. Andy Birkey reveals that Bachmann’s self-promotion unusual among Congress  members[emphasis ended]:

Rep. Michele Bachmann is now notorious for her appearances on cable TV news programs, having sparked significant controversy with her recent “anti-America” statements on MSNBC. But as Politico reports, Bachmann, a Republican, has done 23 major television appearances since the beginning of September — far more than any member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation. How does a freshman Congress member from the minority party find herself in the limelight so often?

Easy. You and I pay for it.

Bachmann has built an impressive communications staff in Washington, D.C. She has a press secretary for national media, a press secretary for local media and a “new media director” who harnesses “the networking and outreach power of the internet.”

According to congressional salary data, none of Minnesota’s Congress members has more than one press secretary. Minnesota’s most influential members, Democratic Reps. James Oberstar and Collin Peterson, who chair the House Transportation and Agriculture committees, respectively, each have only one press secretary.

Bachmann’s fellow freshman colleagues, Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison and Tim Walz, each have just one communications lead, and Walz has combined the communications director and district director positions into one entity.

When the congresswoman endorsed Davis, he gushed:

"It's an honor to receive the support of Congresswoman Bachmann," Davis said of Bachmann. "She is a dynamic leader for Minnesota and for our conservative causes. I value her leadership and advice, her principles and energy. I look forward to serving with her in the 111th Congress."

No word on whether Davis holds fast to that opinion.

Letter writers in the WDN worry about Davis's allegiance to Michele Bachmann in More silence from Brian Davis and his ignorance of vets issues in Davis should have done better:

Over the weekend, I read something very concerning. When the Republican candidate for Congress, Brian Davis, was asked to name a specific way he would improve education or health care benefits for veterans, he couldn’t come up with even one idea.

I can’t believe that someone could run for Congress for over a year and in all that time not manage to develop a single idea about how to improve veterans’ care. I have heard how hard it is for veterans to make use of their educational benefits.

When I returned from Vietnam in 1971, I was able to enroll in law school without having to jump through all kinds of hoops to get my benefits as veterans do today. Anyone who has taken the time to talk to a veteran and get their perspective on these issues would have been able to come up with an answer to that question. But not Davis, I guess.

[Robert]Youngerman is a retired major in the United States Army Reserve.                         

Billed as a presentation of Davis's heath care plan, last night's meeting in Albert Lea turns out simply have been a chance for Davis to rally the GOP faithful.  Check out the intense excitement rippling across the faces of the faithful.

Erin Hoban writes the Post Bulletin to say 23 percent sales tax proposed by Davis would target poor, elderly. We have more about Davis and the national sales tax here and here. In the Owatonna People's Pressm a Walz supporter writes that Walz won’t gamble away Social Security. A letter in the WDN says that Seniors are hurting; it’s time for change and readers should vote for Walz and other DFLers.

LaPrensa endorses Congressman Walz; Brian Davis didn't bother to return the four-question survey. The nod joins the long list of endorsements Walz has received.

Now get out and volunteer for GOTV. Here's Walz's latest positive ad:

Mid-day digest: broadband edition

Congressman Walz is part of a bi-partisan group of U.S. Representatives who are sticking up for rural telecommunications firms, according to Members of Congress Urge FCC to Postpone Election Day Vote on Telecom, a press release from the Coalition for Affordable Communications that's now posted at Marketwatch. The group:

is an association of rural phone and broadband providers concerned with ensuring that American consumers and businesses continue to enjoy affordable telephone and broadband service. The CAC includes CenturyTel, Consolidated Communications, Embarq, FairPoint Communications, Frontier Communications, Iowa Telecom and Windstream Communications, who collectively serve more than 17 million customers in 42 states.

Potentially higher costs to consumers and the lack of transparency in rule-making  are cited as reasons for delayed the decision and opening up the process for public comment.

The Post Bulletin's Regional news digest reports on federal funding for repairing flood-damaged road in SE Minnesota:

SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA: Federal money will help repair flood-damaged roads and highways

Seven southeastern Minnesota counties will get $7.4 million to repair federal roads and highways damaged in the August 2007 flood.

They are Fillmore, Houston, Olmsted, Steele, Wabasha, Winona and Dodge, according to the office of Rep. Tim Walz, D-Mankato.

A record 15.1 inches of rain fell in 24 hours during the event, and some places recorded substantially more. In addition to flooding thousands of homes and killing seven people, the floods damaged culverts, bridges and piers in many roads.

Walz's pro-active approach to the historic flooding was cited as a reason to support Tim Walz in this morning's endorsement by the Winona Daily News:

. . .And, when southern Minnesota flooded, he rushed to do what he could to help. . . .

The MinnPost notes in Rochester Post-Bulletin picks Walz:

Overshadowed by the Bachmann-Tinklenberg and Madia-Paulsen races, the Tim Walz vs. Brian Davis match in the First Congressional District has been a fascinating fight between lunchbucket DFLer and loyally conservative Republican.

The MSU Reporter says 1st District race pits teacher against physician. A anonoposter at the Mower County Republicans BPOU's new blog believes it's a smear for the Walz campaign to call their candidate "Doctor" Brian Davis. Okay then: glad to see the GOP in Austin has such deep discernment about subversive honorifics.

In the Austin Daily Herald, Tom Weir cuts to the chase in his LTE, Walz will work for veterans:

Tim Walz has been a champion for veterans since he went to Congress, working for an increase in the mileage reimbursement rates for veterans, making sure our soldiers going to Kosovo received combat pay for their service, and supporting the new GI Bill.  We need to make sure that our representative in Congress has actually taken the time to think about issues that are important to us.

In the same paper, Erin Hoban thinks Walz is right for the job. Jack Flinner's LTE, Walz opposed bailout bill, has been published by the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader, which reaches readers in Southwestern Minnesota.

For all those readers who follow the beat of a different drummer, we offer this Rita Moreno classic (brought to our attention by that troublemaker, Jussein):

Walz congressional office: $7.4 Million in Funding for Flood Ravaged Roads

Just in from the Congressional office:

Walz Announces $7.4 Million in Funding for Flood Ravaged Roads

(Southeastern, MN) – Today, Congressman Tim Walz announced a federal grant of $7,461,465 for federal roads and highways damaged by flood waters in August of 2007. The following seven counties were affected by the flooding: Fillmore, Houston, Olmsted, Steele, Wabasha, Winona, and Dodge.

“The flood waters damaged more than 350 locations along federal roadways in southern Minnesota,” said Walz. “The people of southern Minnesota pay their federal taxes. It is comforting to know that we have a federal partner continuing to help us rebuild our communities. The federal government is helping to repair the roads and bridges in these counties so Minnesotans can go about their lives with the confidence that the roads they travel are safe.”

From August 18-20, 2007, a seven county area in southeastern Minnesota sustained heavy flood damage from a continuous rain event. In some locations, up to 18 inches of rain fell over a 48-hour period. A Presidential Declaration of a major disaster was announced on August 23, 2007. The Minnesota Department of Transportation identified over 350 locations of impacts on the Federal-aid system. Types of damage range from complete loss of a bridge to numerous roadbed failures, inslope and backslope failures, loss of shoulders and guardrail, culvert damage, scouring around bridge slopes, piers, and culverts across southeastern Minnesota.

Walz's no vote on bailout bill prompts support from Owatonna restaurant owner

In Business & Politics: Owatonna businesses draw politicians in the race, the Owatonna People's Press reports that a local restaurant owner traditionally given to supporting Republican candidates is supporting Congressman Walz.  Nugget grafs:

Traditionally, his restaurant has hosted numerous Republican candidates seeking office, even going back to the years a Republican senator helped bring Boosalis’ father here.

“For me, I’m a little more independent and liberty-driven,” Boosalis said, who will not be voting for Coleman because of the senator’s vote on the $700 billion bailout package. . . .

. . .But in the First District race for Congress, Democratic Congressman Tim Walz has only stopped in Owatonna once to campaign about veteran’s issues at a VFW hall. He also made an appearance at the Fourth of July parade in Blooming Prairie. . . .

. . .Walz’s campaign manager Chris Schmitter said they’re working on bringing Walz back to Owatonna and the visit could come as early as next week. Boosalis said he is working on getting Walz to come to his restaurant during the final push towards Election Day. He’s backing Walz because of his recent vote against the $700 billion bailout package. . .

Congressman Walz has made a number of stops in Owatonna as he performs his official duties. However, these are not campaign activities and so rightly don't belong in the article, given its focus.

In his official duties this year, Congressman Walz visited with local Owatonna leaders in September at Stephen Lawrence's garage, the OPP reported in Walz talks energy during Owatonna visit:

Lawrence, along with others from Lawrence Transportation Services, the Minnesota Trucking Association and the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, addressed concerns to U.S. Rep. Tim Walz in Owatonna Wednesday at a garage owned by Lawrence.

The OPP reported that Walz met with area educator at the local high school in August in Walz touts changes for NCLB.  In April, the paper reported on one of Walz's health care summits in Health care reform brings Rep. Tim Walz to Owatonna. The paper also carried news of several staff visits to the Steele County city.

Walz to travel to DC for hearing on credit derivatives

An advisory from Congressman Walz's office:

WALZ TO PARTICIPATE IN HOUSE HEARING INVESTIGATING WALL STREET ABUSES

Congressional hearing will examine the role exotic Wall Street investment packages known as “credit derivatives” played in financial crisis

(Mankato, MN) – Today, Congressman Tim Walz announced that he will return to Washington, DC tomorrow to participate in a Congressional hearing investigating the Wall Street abuses that potentially caused the financial meltdown, which has significantly impacted the economic security of hard-working Americans.   

Walz serves on the House Agriculture Committee, which will hold the hearing examining the role exotic investment packages known as “credit derivatives” played in the financial meltdown.  The hearing will start the process of determining what kind of Wall Street oversight must be adopted to make sure this kind of financial crisis never happens again.   

Wed., October 15th – 11:00 a.m. EDT [12 noon 10 a.m.Central time]

1300 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC

“Credit derivatives are basically an insurance policy against a bad loan or bond,” said Congressman Tim Walz.  “But they’re not regulated and they’ve become more and more like a poker game between a lot of players where no one is able to accurately assess the risk involved in betting large sums of money.  I’m headed back to Washington to hear from experts about how we move our economy away from the Vegas casino mentality and back towards an atmosphere of responsible lending.”

“Unregulated credit derivates are a danger to the financial and economic health of the U.S. and we’re going to start tomorrow to write the rules that will mitigate that danger,” concluded Walz.

Walz will return to Minnesota following the conclusion of the hearings.

The House Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) whose mission is to protect market users and the public from fraud, manipulation, and abusive practices related to the sale of commodity and financial futures and options, and to foster open, competitive, and financially sound futures and option markets.

The House Agriculture Committee is chaired by Minnesota Representative Collin Peterson.  Agriculture Committee hearings are broadcast live here:http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/audio.html

Consider listening in. In related news, AgriNews reports on the First congressional contest in a pair of articles: Walz seeking second term in House from 1st District and Brian Davis is a candidate for the US House 1st Congressional District.

Photo: Walz met with members of the Land Stewardship Project in early 2007 (Photo from the Fillmore County Journal). Along with Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin of South Dakota, Walz was instrumental in getting LSP-supported beginning and new farmer language into the new Farm Bill.

As a member of the House Ag committee, Walz sought advice from a variety of ag groups working in the district from LSP to the Minnesota Farm Bureau. Walz has received the endorsement of the National Farmers Union PAC and the Golden Triangle Award from the National Farmers Union:

The annual award is the farm organization's highest legislative honor and presented to members of Congress who have demonstrated leadership on issues relevant to America's family farmers, ranchers and rural communities.

The American Farm Bureau has awarded Walz its 2008 “Friend of Farm Bureau” Award along with Senators Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar and Congressmen Collin Peterson and John Kline.  This isn't an endorsement; a press release on the MFBF web site explains:

The award is given to those individuals who have supported Farm Bureau issues as shown by their voting records. The voting records were based on priority issues, such as energy, trade, the farm bill and transportation, as selected by the American Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors.

“Roll call votes on issues of importance to agriculture were the primary criteria used to identify ‘Friends of Farm Bureau,’” said Minnesota Farm Bureau President Kevin Paap. “It’s more important than ever that farmers recognize those elected officials who have a clear understanding of agriculture and a commitment to its future. The Senators and the Congressmen have demonstrated that kind of leadership and deserve our thanks for sharing Farm Bureau’s commitment to enhancing the lives of farm families across the state.”

We had a chance to talk to MFBF President Kevin Paap at last night's Debate Minnesota MN-01 congressional forum.  Paap said that the Minnesota Farm Bureau's PAC would not be endorsing in the congressional race. He added that Walz would be accepting his "Friend of the Farm Bureau" award on Paap's Blue Earth County farm later this month.

And now, an old Carter Family number covered by Uncle Tupelo:

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.

Afternoon debate digest: coalition building edition

Lots of MN-01 material was published while we drove to Rochester and listened to the deb ate. The RACOC is to be congratulated for the debate, which truly was a debate, with rebuttals allowed.  A good show. The Uptake will be archiving raw footage of the event on its site. Thanks to Noah and the Uptake.

In other news, KEYC-TV reports Walz Campaign: 1.08 Million Dollars in Bank.

Don Davis, the Forum papers political reporter, has put together a series of profiles on the race.  Energy, economy dominate 1st provides an overview.  Davis cites us in Mikkelson preaches less government, which must make this blog real now:

Mikkelson "has been both all over the political map – and nowhere as well -- since 2002."

Jeepers. The Walz feature, Walz campaigns as coalition builder, is a solid feature that mentions Davis "complaining."  That's about right.  The final piece, Davis campaigns as a conservative,  believes "radical environmentalists" control Tim Walz. Didn't we hear that sort of thing from Gil Gutknecht in the OWatonna debate in 2006?

Minot's KX report Walz, Davis spar in Minn.'s 1st. Minot? Why not?  The station got it from MPR's Walz, Davis spar in Minn.'s 1st District.

Thirteen-year Army infantryman Hal Kimball observes Brian Davis Sucks on Veterans Issues. Go read about it at Blue Man.

More later. We're off to see the Olmsted County DFL.

Photo: Walz and two turkeys in Worthington. Re-captioned from the Don Davis series. 

Marketwatch: Kevin Schieffer leaves DM & E to "pursue other opportunities"

This news release just in via Marketwatch:

Richard Hamlin, Trustee for CP's acquisition of the DM&E today advised CP of changes to DM&E's senior management team. Effective immediately, Kevin Schieffer, President and CEO, has left the company to pursue other opportunities.

Ed Terbell, Chief Operating Officer, and Kurt Feaster, Chief Financial Officer, will manage the day to day operations of the railway while the DM&E remains in trust.

"Messrs. Feaster and Terbell and the management team have been strong performers in managing the DM&E, and its subsidiaries: Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad and Cedar American Rail Holdings, and will continue with their duties reporting directly to me pending CP assuming control of the railway," said Mr. Hamlin.

On September 30, 2008 CP received regulatory approval from the US Surface Transportation Board to acquire control of the DM&E Railroad and its subsidiaries. The STB denied all requests for conditions other than those agreed to voluntarily by CP. Following a 30-day review period, CP expects to assume control of the DM&E October 30, 2008.

SOURCE: Canadian Pacific Railway

We're not sure what this will be for the groups concerned about the improvement of the DM & E rail system in Southern Minnesota. Stay tuned.

Update: FOX Business also reports the management change in DM&E Railroad announces management change.

Monday morning news digest: Senate race edition

Southern Minnesota's political news is naturally dominated today by last night's debate in Rochester between Al Franken, Dean Barkley and Norm Coleman.

Around 850 people packed the University Center to watch the event, sponsored by Debate Minnesota. KAAL-TV and KTTC-TV posted original coverage; the Winona Daily News picked up the AP story with U.S. Senate candidates trade jabs, as did the Worthington Globe in Senate debate showcases intensity.

Update: Those who missed the debate can watch the entire uncut version or separate  clips on each question over at The Uptake. Thanks Jason. [end update]

The Worthington Globe also looked at the somewhat below-the-radar fight for a veto-proof DFL majority in  the Minnesota State House, publishing Forum News political reporter Scott Wente's Election to shape state House.  Wente quotes our favorite Judson Township native:

. . .Democratic-Farmer-Laborites must defend seats they narrowly won in the 2006 election that handed them control of the state House, and they will try to pick up another five to secure a veto-proof majority.

“The architecture that’s set up here is really, I think, set up for victory again for Democrats,” House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, said of the political climate....

. . .Top House Republicans and Democrats say that improving the economy and creating jobs are key issues for voters. Democrats say the public turns to them in difficult economic times and they already have demonstrated an ability to pass legislation that results in job growth.

“There’s a higher degree of trust around the Democratic brand when it comes to handling the tough economic situation and dealing with what needs to be done to reposition the Minnesota economy to make it even stronger,” Kelliher said. . .

The Mankato Free Press editorial board notes it's Not too late to register:

If you are an eligible voter who plans to vote and haven’t yet registered, it’s time to mark your calendar with a big red X on Oct. 14.

That’s the deadline for submitting a voter registration application to your county courthouse so your name will be on the roster Nov. 4 at your polling place.

Minnesota allows same-day registration at the polls, and that’s a convenient thing for procrastinators. But you would save much time and effort for yourself and everyone in line behind you at your precinct by taking care of business by Oct. 14 if possible.

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is predicting this to be “a watershed year” when it comes to voters flocking to the polls for this presidential election. . . .

. . .Absentee ballots also have been in demand. In Blue Earth County, Patty O’Connor handles elections and she told a reporter the phone had been ringing like crazy for ballots. The last time she’d seen that kind of demand was when Jesse Ventura ran for governor.

The high interest in the election is invigorating, and eligible voters not yet registered still have plenty of opportunity to take part in the process.

For more information on voting and elections, visitwww.sos.state.mn.us

Read the entire piece at the MFP. 

The Owatonna People's Press reports on the rural driver's need to take extra care in A safe harvest:

It might be tempting to get frustrated when you’re late for work and the fat raccoon in the ditch next to you just passed your car because you’re behind a combine on Highway 14. But, farmers most likely won’t have far to go before they can get off the roadway and out of your way.

The first week of October has brought farmers back to the fields to begin harvest of soybeans and corn, the main crops of the Steele County area — but that also means the large trucks, equipment and tractors are also back on the roads.

That's certainly been our experience, and we give the farmers a wide berth as they do their job. The recent rains may also make the soil left on roads slick up, so drivers should pay attention to road surface conditions, too.  Anybody who has ever driven on a county road on a rainy day during the sugar beet harvest knows how slippery mud can be.

The title of this YouTube is "If you rear-end this, you shouldn't be on the road":

Associated General Contractors of Minnesota endorse Walz

From the Walz campaign office:

Walz Announces Support of Associated General Contractors of Minnesota for His Reelection
Walz’s strong support of transportation investment won him their support

( Owatonna , Minn. ) – Today, Congressman Tim Walz announced that he had secured the support of the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota ( AGC ) in his reelection bid.

“ AGC is a strong voice for increased investment in transportation infrastructure and other issues that are critical to keeping America running strong,” Walz said. “I’m thrilled to have AGC ’s 500 members backing my reelection.”

 AGC is a non-profit professional trade association that represents the interests of the building and highway construction industry throughout Minnesota . AGC was formed in 1919 and is the first chapter of the Associated General Contractors in the United States .

Walz Campaign Manager Chris Schmitter said that Walz’s support for increased investment in transportation infrastructure and public works was squarely in-line with AGC ’s advocacy for those issues.

“ AGC has been a strong voice for increased investment in transportation infrastructure, a position I strongly support,” said Walz. “I’ve been proud to stand with them in the fight for more funding for southern Minnesota ’s rural roads and I’m proud that they’re standing with me in my reelection bid.”

Walz has already received support from labor unions.

Photo: Walz and local leaders held a press conference earlier this year beside Highway 14 to stress the need to improve the dangerous road.

Wednesday morning digest: Spam by any other name edition

Winona Daily News editor Darrell Ehrlick's Book explores Minnesota’s interesting history. We're going to read that. Who knew Spam almost ended up being called "Brunch"?

The Winona Daily News reports Crowd warming up for Obama speech:

An excited crowd of thousands is jamming downtown La Crosse in anticipation of presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's 10 a.m. address.

Obama's podium is set up in front of the Ebenezer's restaurant entrance, in the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites on Second Street, facing northwest toward the Radisson Hotel. The crowd is packed from immediately in front of the stage to Second and Pearl streets.

MPR's Polinaut notes that, like Thursday's Chamber of Commerce debate, the KSTP/League of Women Voters debate on October 4 has been postponed since Congress is re-convening to address the country's financial situation.  Both debates will be re-scheduled.

Recovering Republican Ron Amundson writes  On the bailout plan… protect mainstreet on his Political Blog. It's a post that definitely worth a read.

Dale at Corner House Comments says to go tell the U.S. Senate to get 'er done on mental health parity in Wellstone Mental Health Legislation-Act Now!.

David Phillips, the publisher of the Spring Grove Herald writes that Congress needs to extend production credits for renewable fuels. His column mentions the Picken's Plan; Congressman Walz has signed the Picken's pledge.

Jon Grinnell of St. Peter writes to the Mankato Free Press to praise its coverage of the Blue-Green Alliance meeting in Let's support a fossil-free future. While we've yet to hear Walz say that we'll ever be completely weaned from fossil fuels, we agree with Grinnell in this:

I applaud those far-sighted enough to work for a new, prosperous, green economy, and the legislators like our congressman Tim Walz, who show up to their meetings and work with them.

The Free Press reports Feds give nod to DM&E, CP merger. The PB does the same in Federal board approves DM&E sale. We've received a press release on the approval from the Rochester Coalition and have placed it below the fold.

David Sirota has posted a STRATEGY MEMO: Turning a Wall Street Giveaway Into an Economic Rescue for All Americans which discusses various options for dealing with the financial situation. Personally, we're intrigued with the NO Bailout Act. Sirota describes some of its key features:

Seeking to strengthen the Left-Right coalition of Democrats and Republicans who defeated the Paulson bailout on Monday, progressives introduced a bailout alternative at a Capitol Hill press conference on Tuesday afternoon. They outlined the No BAILOUT Act, which would strengthen financial industry regulation of short selling and other speculative gamesmanship through the Securities and Exchange Commission, change accounting rules to let banks show more assets, and empower the FDIC to open up banks' books, restructure bank management, and provide short-term liquidity to the credit markets - with no automatic outlay of taxpayer cash.

Interesting stuff. We're not liking what we're reading in the Strib about the re-tweaked version of the Bush-Paulson bailout that the U.S. Senate and the House are cooking up, so it's good to see dissenting House members putting together an alternative.

We'd like to be able to post a video of Merle Haggard singing one of our favorites in his songbook, but the embedding code is disabled.  Go over and have a look, though you can listen to the song itself below:

Thursday morning digest: coalition building edition

In Valley Regional Rail Coalition seeks development, revitalization of MPL, the New Ulm Journal reports: 

At the coalition's first meeting last month, 1st District Congressman Tim Walz said creating a strong, bi-partisan coalition is exactly what needs to happen to get the railroad project done. 

"I'll tell my colleagues in Congress that we have to use our railroads and investing in them will bring us forward," Walz said.

Tim Walz was a guest on Don Shelby's EDay yesterday:

Wednesday's EDay Conversation was with Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz discussing the House Energy Bill. . .

Listen at the link.

Minnesota Central writes Walz makes correct votes on Off-shore Drilling, concluding:

To me, Tim Walz and Jim Ramstad get a thumbs-up but Nancy Pelosi gets a thumbs-down.

For Tim Walz, this is just the first step. This bill was largely a to have Democrats go on record supporting some version of off-shore drilling. The Democrats who voted for HR 6899 have now voted for off-shore drilling. They cannot move back from that position. Next term, a more expansive bill ... possibly Walz's will be enacted.

For Jim Ramstad, this is just another example of a responsible Congressman who will be sorely missed in the 111th Congress.

CQ Politics reports in an article about the House vote to lift the drilling ban that the issue may not be the perceived magic for Republicans that it once was:

. . .the GOP’s hopes are illusory, according to University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato. “The Republicans think energy is their silver bullet. But here’s the problem,” Sabato said. “The public’s concerns about the economy are far broader, and these other aspects are now taking center stage.”

Those economic concerns — suddenly exacerbated by the federal takeovers of the giant insurer American International Group and the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage companies — are ominous for Republicans, Sabato said. “The public senses that energy is part of one giant economic disaster, and they always blame the incumbent president and his party.” . . .       

With even McCain now touting more regulation and intervention in response to the melt-down in the markets, the political climate may be dimming for a free market ideologue like Davis.

The Albert Lea Tribune writes People excited about TV show coming; "Extreme Makeover" will be helping a family in the Freeborn County metropolis. Maybe Davis can get some tips from the pros.

Walz statement on Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act

Just in from the Walz congressional office:

WALZ VOTES FOR HOUSE ENERGY PLAN
Expanded drilling, renewable energy investments included in comprehensive plan

(Washington, D.C.) - Yesterday, Congressman Tim Walz joined 235 of his colleagues in passing H.R. 6899, the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act. 

"The Bush-Cheney energy plan has been a success, but for the Big Oil companies, not the American people.  It's time for a new direction in our energy policy," said Walz.  "I was proud to work with a bipartisan group to craft new energy legislation, and many of our ideas were incorporated into this plan: it invests in renewable sources of energy, responsibly increases domestic supply by opening up the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling, releases oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, eliminates unnecessary tax breaks for Big Oil and requires Big Oil to pay the billions of dollars they owe in royalties to invest in clean energy resources."

Walz continued, "This legislation will help create millions of good-paying American jobs in the renewable energy industry and it will begin to break the stranglehold that foreign oil has over America."

The Comprehensive American Energy Security & Consumer Protection Act is a compromise that combines expanded drilling with an American-owned 21st century comprehensive, clean renewable energy and efficiency approach.

H.R. 6899 passed by a vote of 236 to 189.  Details on H.R. 6899 follow:
 

Lowers Costs to Consumers & Protects Taxpayers

Royalty Reform: Making Oil Companies Pay Their Fair Share for Drilling on Public Lands. Ensures that oil companies pay their fair share of royalties on flawed leases granted in 1998 and 1999.  Oil companies holding 70 percent of these leases issued in the Gulf of Mexico from 1998 and 1999 pay no royalties on this oil, costing American taxpayers about $15 billion.

Repeal of Tax Subsidies. Repeals a giveaway in the 2004 international tax bill (H.R. 4520) for the Big Five oil companies.  (Small, independent oil and gas companies would continue to benefit from the deduction at the current rate.)  It also closes a foreign tax loophole for large oil companies. 

Releasing Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Temporarily releases nearly 10 percent of the oil from the government’s stockpile (known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)), and replaces it later with heavier, cheaper crude oil.  Past releases have brought down prices by up to 33 percent.

Mineral Management Service Ethics Reform. Takes aggressive steps to crack down on the extreme misconduct at the Mineral Management Service – the agency charged with collecting royalties from oil and gas companies.

Renewable Energy Future, Creating American Jobs

Renewable Energy and Efficiency Tax Incentives. It expands and extends tax incentives for renewable electricity, energy (such solar and wind) and fuel from America’s heartland, as well as for plug-in hybrid cars, and energy efficient homes, buildings, and appliances.  Investments in renewable energy create three to five times as many jobs as investments in fossil-fuel energy.

Investing in Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Home Heating Assistance (LIHEAP), Paid for by Making Oil Companies Pay their Fair Share for Drilling on Public Lands (98/99 leases). Creates a Renewable Energy Reserve to invest in clean, renewable energy resources and alternative fuels, promote new energy technologies, develop greater efficiency and improve conservation.  It will also fund home heating assistance (LIHEAP), weatherization, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and carbon capture and sequestration. Revenues from new areas opened offshore will also be deposited in this fund.>

Electricity from Clean Renewable Sources. Requires utility companies to generate 15 percent of electricity from renewable sources -- such as wind power, biomass, wave, tidal, geothermal and solar -- by 2020.  A 15 percent Renewable Electricity Standard will reduce global warming emissions and lower energy prices, saving consumers $13-18 billion cumulatively by 2020.  It permits utilities to meet up to 4 percent of their target through energy efficiency.  This levels the playing field for Minnesota companies who already have to meet a similar state-mandated RES.

Renewable Biomass. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Renewable Fuel Standard should ensure that every region of the country can be a potential producer by calling for cellulosic biofuels to be produced from a highly diverse array of feedstocks.

Expanding Domestic Energy Supply

Responsible Compromise on Drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.

The compromise would permit leasing between 50 and 100 miles  offshore if a State ‘opts-in’ to allow leasing off its coastline by enacting a state law. 

Environmental Protections:  marine National monuments and national marine sanctuaries are permanently withdrawn from oil and gas leasing.  All leasing activities must protect the coastal, marine and human environment of the State coastal zones and OCS.

DOD authority to designate national defense areas remains in force and leasing must also take place in accordance with a Memorandum of Agreement between DOD and Interior Departments.

Adhere to the 2006 law protecting some of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico until 2022 and exempts Georges Bank (in New England), which supports the most valuable fishery in America.

The remaining Outer Continental Shelf beyond100 mileswould be open to oil and gas leasing.

Require Oil Companies to Drill on the 68 Million Acres of Federal Lands They Already Control. Strengthens requirements that oil companies produce oil on federal lands leased for drilling during the initial term of their lease.

Increase Domestic Oil Production in Alaska. Mandates annual lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, which has more oil than the Arctic Wildlife Refuge.  Also requires the Bush Administration to facilitate completion of the oil pipeline infrastructure into the Reserve and the construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline, which could create up to 100,000 jobs, while banning export of Alaskan oil outside the U.S.

Promote Natural Gas, E-85 Infrastructure. Includes incentives and financing mechanisms for installing natural gas pumps in service stations and homes and requires service stations owned by Big Oil to install at least one "alternative fuel pump"—such as natural gas or E-85.  Natural gas costs 40 percent less than gasoline, is 33 percent cleaner and is produced in North America.

Carbon Capture & Sequestration. Advances the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to come up with a cleaner way to use coal

Oil Shale.Allows Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado to opt in to exploration, development, or production of federal oil shale reserves, if the State enacts a law approving that.

Greater Energy Efficiency and Conservation

Strengthen Energy Efficiency in Buildings to Bring Down Costs. Could save consumers at least $210 billion in energy costs through 2030 by updating energy codes for new buildings.  New residential and commercial buildings will have to realize a 30 percent improvement in minimum building standards by 2010, and 50 percent by 2020. The building sector alone accounts for approximately 48% of all energy consumed in the United States and of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Incentives for Energy Efficient Homes. Provides incentives to lenders and financial institutions, including the Federal Housing Administration, to provide lower interest loans to consumers who build, buy or remodel their homes to improve their energy efficiency. The average American spends 9.7% of their income on energy, while low-income households spend more than 16%.

Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act. Reduces transit fares for commuter rail and buses and expands service. The average commuter can save up to $8,000 a year riding public transit, based on today’s gas prices.

I-35 bridge press conference coverage: "What we can do when we came together"

The Minnpost chose to include Congressman Walz's remarks in the article Officials hail new I-35W bridge and the workers who made it happen:

Congressman Tim Walz
"Politics and governance are not synonymous, but there are time when they cross each other's path at a perfect sweet spot, and that sweet spot was on the rebuilding of this bridge; showing what we could do when we came together; showing when we came together for common purpose, not division, what could happen."

Photo:  From the AP, Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher recognizes sisters Randy-Lynn and Mary-Juanita Leonard, who were on the school bus that was on the Interstate 35W bridge when it collapsed. In the upper right hand corner of the picture, Congressman Walz looks on.

(H/T to the Political Muse) In his floor remarks on the anniversary of the bridge collapse, Walz, a teacher, recalled seeing the school bus the Leonard sisters were in:

Monday morning digest: scavenger hunt edition

We had a grand time at King Turkey Day on Saturday--the organizers really know how to trash talk about turkeys and put on a show, and the visiting Texans give as good as they get. The talent wasn't so equally distributed in the political speeches.

The Worthington Globe's coverage of Saturday's speeches in Rivals Davis, Walz talk politics doesn't report on the crowd's reaction to the speakers. Davis blew his own jokes, while Walz drew laughs and cheers throughout his speech, especially when he talked about the passage of the new G.I. Bill. 

Julie Buntjer reports:

Walz, nearing the end of his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, spoke of the work he helped accomplish and the work yet to be done, while admitting he’s “as frustrated as you” when things don’t move forward.

“If we lose faith in City Hall, if we lose faith in St. Paul, if we lose faith in Washington, we’re saying we lose faith in this great democracy,” Walz said. “It’s our responsibility to rise up and move this country forward.”

Walz spoke of the bi-partisan farm bill passed by Congress and the Senate this year, as well as the “first sweeping GI bill since 1944 to care for our veterans.

“It’s our moral responsibility and a national security responsibility — take care of them and they’ll take care of us,” he said.

During his first term in office, Walz said Congress also passed legislation to fund rural water projects, including both the Red Rock Rural Water system and the Lewis and Clark pipeline.

As for energy, Walz said, “Partisan statements that don’t coincide with fact hamper us from getting solutions. We’re working on a bipartisan bill that allows us to drill in our off-shore areas responsibly — not all of them, some of them.”

Walz said he wants to take the royalties earned from offshore drilling and invest a trillion dollars in renewable energy — from wind turbines to biofuels.

“When it comes to energy, this nation can do it. We can use the resources we have here,” he said.

“The best ideas don’t come from the democrats, and they don’t come from the republicans — they come from the American public who puts partisanship second and solutions first,” Walz continued. “This nation can solve those problems, this nation can lead and this nation can do what every other generation has done before — leave this country better than the way they found it.”

The candidate's respective parade units also illustrated the level of enthusiasm. Twenty people wearing Walz t-shirts walked with the Nobles County DFL, along with Thomasin Franken and a number of her father's supporters. Davis walked with ten people, including Representative Magnus. 

Parade watchers responded well to Walz, often calling him over to shake hands. Davis? Just at the moment when we could see his sign carriers coming toward us, Dale and I were startled to see a turkey vulture gliding over the street. The crowd where we stood was nonresponsive to Davis. The vulture, too, took a pass.

The scavenger may have some company with that oversight.

It's our understanding that, as of Thursday, the Davis campaign had not made a television or cable media buy for post-primary advertising. Time--and space--are going fast. Judging from Mark Fischenich's Campaign Notebook, it looks as if Davis's supporters hope the hapless doc will win on Sarah Palin's coattails:

Neal Breitbarth, a Fairmont businessman and delegate to the Republican National Convention, didn’t agree with a suggestion that Palin was the star of the convention. But Breitbarth might have been trying to protect McCain’s feelings, because he asked that Palin — not McCain — do a campaign rally in the district with GOP congressional candidate Brian Davis.

Breitbarth said he thinks the district is perfect for Palin and that residents would respond with great enthusiasm, helping Davis in his attempt to unseat freshman Democratic Congressman Tim Walz of Mankato.

We'll see if the McCain campaign decides Southern Minnesota is a good fit for the Alaska governor. Fischenich adds that she and Walz have something in common:

One organization that was a big supporter of Palin as governor of Alaska is also endorsing Walz. The National Rifle Association announced its endorsement of Walz last week, something the Democrat’s campaign publicized with a pair of press releases.

A retired Army National Guard command sergeant major, Walz has a strong record of backing Second Amendment rights.

According to Fischenich:

No debates have been finalized in the 1st District. . . although the Walz and Davis camps are said to be talking about it.

If Davis is as smart as he claims, he'll try to avoid one-on-one meetings with Walz. We've seen them twice now--at Farmfest and King Turkey Day--and the comparison isn't flattering to the Republican. It's no wonder that observers like Beyond the Polls put this seat in the "safe for now" category.

MSU-Mankato Dean of Nursing Mary Bliesmer writes the Mankato Free Press to observe Walz’ energy bill would make a real difference:

Tim Walz, southern Minnesota’s energetic new representative in Washington, D.C., along with other legislators, has introduced a new energy bill the National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act, a bipartisan bill proposed to make a real difference for our future.

This is a bill that has vision for not only tomorrow but also 10 years from now. The proposed bill expands offshore drilling responsibly, lifting the moratorium on the Outer Continental Shelf in some areas as a short-term solution.

Revenues (around $1 trillion) raised from taxes and royalties on new drilling would be invested in renewable/alternatives research and conservation over the next decade and Americans may even find it easier to buy hybrid vehicles that get better gas mileage.

This is a groundbreaking bill, written by moderates from both parties who realize that partisan bickering about energy policy does not bring lasting results.

The Rochester Democrat looks at one reason why offshore drilling is more complicated an issue than Brian Davis admits in Dr. Davis’ Sloganeering Approach Ignores National Security.

In a letter to the editor, Walz supporter Ronald von Arb tells readers Walz brings integrity, accountability to D.C.

Congressman Walz will be at this morning's press conference at the new I-35 bridge and then back to Washington.

Photos: Above: from the Worthington Globe, Tim Walz and a couple of turkeys. Below: from the USGS, a stock photo of a turkey vulture. Dale was familiar with the species because they roost on the local law enforcement communications towers in Luverne; we've seen them while out birding.