Bluestem Prairie

Walz campaign manager, former St. Joseph mayor Richard Carlbom, joins Chris Coleman's staff

Tim Walz was thought to be the state's most vulnerable congressional Democrat in 2010, but Southern Minnesota voters elected him to a third term. Under the guidance of campaign manager Richard Carlbom and skilled grassroots activists across the district, the campaign beat the riptide that washed away so n many other Democratic incumbents.

Now Carlbom--a personal friend since 2002--is leaving the Walz campaign to join Chris Coleman's staff as Communications Director. The position opened when Bob Hume moved to Governor Dayton's staff.

Carlbom announced his new job in an email to the First CD DFL elist.

He was elected mayor of St. Joseph in 2004, replacing Larry Hosch, who was elected to the Minnesota House that year.Carlbom was all of 23 when he took office. He left office in 2007 to work as Political Director for the Walz campaign.

Photo: On Election night, 2010, Richard Carlbom (second from left) claps as Congressman Walz thanks the staff and volunteers who re-elected him to a third term in Minnesota's First Congressional District. Photo by Sally Jo Sorensen.

 

MN Ag Commish Frederickson appoints Matthew Wohlman as Assistant Commissioner

One of the many talented and thoughtful young people working on Congressman Walz's staff, Matt Wohlman, is joining Governor Dayton's staff as an assistant commissioner of agriculture. Congratulations to Matt, whom I consider a terrific research for agriculture and a cheerful friend.

Like my ag fanatic friend Clara (right), I give Wohlman a thumbs up.

The press release from the Dayton administration:

Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) Commissioner Dave Frederickson today announced the appointment of Matthew Wohlman as Assistant Commissioner.  Wohlman’s responsibilities at MDA will include oversight of the department’s regulatory activities.

Wohlman owns and operates a fifth-generation family farming operation based in Renville County.  He has worked as the outreach director for Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz since 2007.  From his office in Mankato, Wohlman served as the lead outreach staffer for agriculture, transportation, appropriations, renewable energy, financial services and rural economic development issues in the district.  He conducted outreach activities to maintain and strengthen relationships with community leaders, constituents and organizations.

Prior to working for Congressman Walz, Wohlman worked from 2003 to 2006 as a legislative assistant for State Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon, and as an intern for U.S. Senator Mark Dayton from 2001 to 2003.  Wohlman earned an undergraduate degree in animal science from the University of Minnesota, and a master’s degree in advocacy and political leadership from the University of Minnesota Duluth.  He currently serves on the University of Minnesota Extension Citizen Advisory Board, and on the board of directors for the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Sciences Alumni Society.

Commissioner Frederickson said he is pleased to add Wohlman to the department’s management team.

“Matthew brings a great combination of experience and training to this position,” Commissioner Frederickson said.  “He has been working directly with Minnesota farmers, ranchers and other stakeholders on important issues, and he has a track record of helping our stakeholders find solutions to shared challenges.  I am happy to welcome him to the department.”

Wohlman will assume his duties on Monday, January 24.  He will be responsible for overseeing regulatory divisions including the MDA’s Dairy and Food Inspection Division, Pesticide and Fertilizer Management Division and Plant Protection Division.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to serve at MDA,” Wohlman said.  “I look forward to working with Commissioner Frederickson and his staff, and to do our part to help Minnesota’s farmers and ranchers continue to produce the safest and most abundant food supply in the world.”

Photo: Matt Wohlman (right) and two other ag guys get a thumbs up from Clara Sandberg at the Minnesota Farmers Union convention after-banquet auction in November. Commissioner Frederickson is on the left. Charlie Poster (center) is an agriculture staffer for Senator Franken. Who knew Bluestem would get this much mileage from one MFU convention photo?

Mashing-up "shall issue" and "may issue": clarifying some Capitol Chatter

Reading the article, Packing in Capitol makes some feel safe, in Don Davis's Capitol Chatter, I had to pause--no, make that stop in my tracks--when I read the following passage:

To be legal, anyone carrying a concealed weapon must have a permit.

Cornish, the Lake Crystal police chief, said sheriffs are careful about who gets permits, and they may deny permit requests even if a person has no convictions on his record.

Perhaps the word "may" is just Davis's word choice (I'll leave the use of the male pronoun for the Pink Pistols to thrash over), but this statement confuses the issue--and muddies the waters over the historic struggle over permits to carry a pistol in Minnesota. The permits to carry issue is frequently called "conceal carry" but that's a misleading term. Permit holders don't have to conceal their pistol to require a permit (somewhat different rules cover rifles, shotguns and BB guns).

The entire battle was over whether sheriffs "shall issue" permits to any eligible citizen who applies and pays for a permit, without having to supply a reason for requesting the permit, or whether, under the old "may issue" language, sheriff's departments were granted far great discretion to deny any citizen who applied for a permit and stated a reason for asking.

The new law allows for greater gun rights; my civil liberty of gun ownership and enjoyment of a firearm (provided I meet the very reasonable criteria spelled out in the law) can't be denied at the whim of the local sheriff.

Few permit applications are denied under the current "shall issue" law; few permit holders commit crimes in Minnesota while carrying their firearms in public. One section of the law requires that the commissioner of public safety report to the legislature each year; the report are available online here, following the FAQ about permits.

It's interesting scrolling through the reports. Only a few hundred permits are denied each year, and while the privacy of each permit holder and denied applicant is preserved, the reasons for each rejected permit are noted. While sheriffs can  deny an applicant for "danger to self or others," since permits can be denied for more than one reason, when one gets to the details on each case, it's clear that while some denied applicants might not have a conviction to their discredit, they do fall within the other categories the legislature clearly spelled out in Minnesota Statute 624.714 (Subd 2).

So was Cornish soft-pedaling "shall issue" while being interviewed about carrying a gun during session is the wake of the Arizona shootings?

The grandstanding Cornish is certainly the last person I'd imagine doing that. While stranger things have happened in Minnesota politics and it's not impossible that Cornish came down with a sudden bout of angst and political correctness, the Davis paraphrase illustrates how quickly the discussion of this issue can become muddy as the Blue Earth River after a good thunderstorm.

That, or too much Sweetwater at Kelly Inn.

Congressman Walz invites state senator Julie Rosen to State of the Union address

One Republican leader the NRCC and others had hoped to recruit to run against Tim Walz in 2010 was Fairmont senator Julie Rosen. While Rosen thought about it, she declined a run, as Bluestem was first to report early last year, though she left the door open for a future run, should Walz be re-elected. She's a fairly straight-forward person--not much to suss out there.

Thus, I think that the following press release is also pretty straight-forward. Both Southern Minnesota leaders seek civility; Rosen's appearance shouldn't be taken as a sign that she won't run for Congress.

Rather, the only lesson to draw beyond the state objective is that the invitation and its acceptance signals that a Walz-Rosen contest would be spirited and as polite as such things are apt to be in this political climate. Fairmont, after all, is that sort of place.

From the Walz office:

Today, Congressman Tim Walz announced Republican State Senator Julie Rosen will accompany him to the President’s State of the Union address next Tuesday. Both will highlight the need for civility and respect in our national and local debates.

“While Julie and I don’t always agree on everything, I have tremendous respect for her as a public servant. We do not have to be members of the same party to have productive conversations to move our country forward,” said Walz. “We may never know why the horrific violence in Tucson unfolded, but we don’t need a tragedy to tell us our politics have become too divisive, our words too harsh and our debate too disrespectful. In this time of reflection, I hope we will remember that we have more that unites us then divides us and that’s what Julie and I will be talking about on Tuesday.”

"I'm thankful for this invitation from Congressman Walz, and glad for the opportunity to participate in this memorable occasion," said Rosen.  "Our record of working together for southern Minnesota has brought successes of all types, and I hope the amiability, respect, and dedication that Congressman Walz and I share will continue in the future."

Senator Rosen has served in the Minnesota Senate since 2002.

 

The windmills in Norm's mind: Pawlenty, American Action Network, and the Hispanic Leadership Conference

Norm Coleman's AAN Court Latinos--After the Election

Politico reports in Little immigration talk at GOP event:

The goal of a conference of Hispanic Republicans here was to show that the party wants to broaden its reach into the fastest-growing population of voters.

It did just as much to underscore the GOP’s challenge.

The Republicans who gathered at the posh Biltmore Hotel for the newly formed Hispanic Leadership Network generally support a broad reform of the immigration system, one that includes some means for legalizing the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants. The organizers included former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez – two leading Republican voices for a comprehensive immigration overhaul.

But they are not part of the dominant wing in the Republican Party, which has embraced an enforcement-first, no-legalization-under-any-circumstances position in recent years – a shift that the conference organizers say has hampered the party’s outreach to Hispanics.

Yet there was little direct challenge to the party’s rightward drift on immigration.

None of the organizers – Bush, Gutierrez and former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) – made a direct mention of immigration in their opening remarks. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty relegated the issue to the end of a more than 20-minute speech

Carrie Budoff Brown, the Politico reporter on the scene, doesn't inquire much beyond that angle. Readers can be forgiven for thinking that the dilemma for the Republican Party is merely one of substance or tone when approaching Latino voters.

Coleman seems almost cocky that the Hispanic Leadership Conference will win the hearts and minds of Latino voters without addressing immigration:

Asked whether Republicans can make meaningful gains unless they resolve the immigration issue, Coleman said it was entirely possible.

“You are focused on D.C. chatter,” Coleman said in an interview. “My proposition is that jobs are the most important issue.”

Coleman cited the historic gains that Hispanic Republicans made last year, rising to governor in New Mexico and Nevada, winning a Senate seat in Florida and taking seven House seats.

“In spite of the Washington-centric focus on immigration as some barrier, that is simply not the reality in heartland America,” Coleman said.

 

American Action Network inactive in electing 2010's new Republican Latino Reps

The Hispanic Leadership Conference is a project sponsored by Coleman's American Action Network (AAN). How much did the AAN have to do with these victories?

It's no secret that the AAN funded "issue ads" across the country. On October 18, the committee released a list of Congressional districts where it was running an"issue ads" attacking Democrats in sixteen districts: MI-7, NV-3, OH-6, PA-12, WI-8, CO-7, IN-2, NM-1, OR-5, CT-4, CT-5, MN-1, SD-ALL VA - 11, VA-05 and VA-9.

Another ad ran in NH-2, WV-1, PA-7,IL-10, AR-1 and MA-10. On October 23, AAN announced it was running new ads in OH-06, PA-12, WI-08, CO-07, IN-02, NM-01, OR-05, CT-05, SD-ALL and VA-05.

The Houston Chronicle reports:

Five Latinos were elected to the House, including two from Texas: Rep. Francisco Canseco, R-San Antonio, and Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan.

All told, there will be 17 Democrats and seven Republicans of Hispanic heritage serving in the House, along with Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Bob Menendez, D-N.J.

Latinovations'  La Plaza blog reports that the five new Republican Latino House members are David Rivera (FL-5); Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-5); Francisco Canseco (TX-23); Bill Flores (TX-17); and, Raul Labrador (ID-1).

Missing in action in those districts? American Action Network. It spent elsewhere.

So who did the AAN support and elect? Can those candidates be said to appeal to Latino voters? I'm going to hazard a guess that immigration hardliner Dr. Joe Heck (NV-3) isn't terribly popular.

NumbersUSA loves Tim Walberg (MI-7), who was the darling of the Minutemen in 2006. And so it goes.

 

Pawlenty at Coral Cables

It's no wonder that former Minnesota Tim Pawlenty fit in so well with the AAN's attempted seduction of Latino voters. While Pawlenty droned on the "State of the States" to the Hispanic Leadership Conference in Coral Gables, Latino activists back in Minnesota debated the right time to allow a Pawlenty executive order to expire:

Google is not your friend; or, another winning strategy from MNGOP chair Tony Sutton

News comes my way of the departure of Republican Party of Minnesota Chair Tony Sutton from his role as CEO of faux-Mexican eatery Baja Sol.

Now down to a mere ten open restaurants in Minnesota from a  high of twenty in three states (thirteen were still operating in September), the restaurant had suffered from a bad economy, protests related to Sutton's anti-immigration views, and a business plan in Illinois and Ohio that included planting stores in locations where no eatery had taken hold before.

Also, going into a saturated market without a clear brand distinction.

That sort of business acumen must be the guiding light in Sutton's new joint venture with Public Affairs Companies. In Republican Chairman Tony Sutton joins Public Affairs Co., we read in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal:

Public Affairs Co. announced Monday it is launching a joint venture with longtime Republican strategist Tony Sutton and his new Winning Strategies consulting firm.

The new joint venture, Winning Strategies, tests the limits of the oh-so-civil notion that Google Is Your Friend (GIYF). Google "Winning Strategies" and it's rather hard to find Mr. Sutton. This may be a first, but then, perhaps things look smaller on the Internet.

Oh, the cheerful researcher does find some public affairs firms at the top of the page with that search string. Top of the pile? Winning Strategies, an established advertsing and public relations firm with offices in Newark, Trenton, Washington, D.C., and London.

Moving down the list of first-page hits, there's Winning Strategies, subtitled Politics, Policy, and Public Affairs. This Winning Strategies is a strategic partner of Burson Marsteller, a rather large firm that "is a subsidiary of Young & Rubicam, which is owned by London-based WPP Group, according to the home school kids editing Wikipedia. That Winning Strategies claims to have helped Barack Obama get elected President.

Mr. Sutton must hope for some of that luck to wear off. for now, his firm's website can be found by googling "Winning Strategies" and "Tony Sutton," and Blustem hopes he can pull his google rank up by luck, pluck and his bootstraps. Meanwhile, the missus holds down the fort at the incredible shrinking taco baronacy.

Drazkowski: In age of widening wealth gap, let working people choose to earn less

Throughout the Coulee Region near LaCrosse, the Drazkowski family is well known for its efforts at stimulating the local economy. Who could forget the wholesome outdoor music festival held on Pere Drazkowski's Bluff Siding farm on Chicken Valley Road in the summer of 2001?

The event certainly made work for the local law enforcement establishment, as well as creating jobs for new county commissioners the next year, according to a 2002 report in the Winona Daily News, Rave ruckus haunts board members:

Those Buffalo County folks who were upset last summer when the Road Dogs motorcycle club brought thousands of kids to County Supervisor Ron Drazkowski's land near Bluff Siding for a rave are enjoying the last laugh.

On Tuesday, four of five incumbent supervisors were voted out of office, including Board Chairman Drazkowski, who had served on the board since 1991. . . .

. . .Previously, Drazkowski apologized to county residents and supervisors for a rave party on his land in Bluff Siding near the Gin Mill Tavern over the Labor Day weekend.

Three of his sons are members of the Road Dogs, and one, Lee Drazkowski, manages the Gin Mill. He signed the agreement with the promoter to bring the music festival to the area. [links added by BSP]

The terpsichorean splendors of the nearby Gin Mill, an informal gathering place for a mobile social club, were ended by an arsonist's match in 2007:

The Gin Mill tavern, owned by Gin Mill, Inc., was termed a total loss and torn down soon after the fire.

The tavern featured exotic dancers and served as a clubhouse for the Road Dogs Motorcycle Club. The property is at W288 Chicken Valley Road.

Tom Drazkowski, a co-owner of the business who lives near the Gin Mill property, spotted the fire and reported it at 7:48 a.m.

The club was never rebuilt, and the wet tshirt contests are now just a memory. Young women no longer are able to learn their worth and the dignity of labor in Fountain City's entertainment job market.

But the family tradition of providing quality jobs may carry on after all. Steve Drazkowski (never an owner of the Gin Mill nor part of the Road Dogs Motorcycle Club like his brothers, as far as I know) has proposed yet another jobs creation measure in addition to his English-only bill that will line the pockets of English teachers everywhere.

And not since the torching of the Gin Mill has a Drazkowski been near an action that's sparked such an incendiary response.

In Union options could wind up on 2012 ballot, the Winona Daily News looks at the Draz's latest bright idea: asking Minnesotans to vote for lower wages for themselves:

State Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, has introduced a bill targeted at labor unions that he says could improve the state’s business environment and give Minnesota employees more choices.

However, union leaders disagree and contend the measure would actually hurt workers throughout the state. . . .

But union leaders argue that such a bill would benefit only businesses, while hurting their employees. They cite federal statistics that show workers in states with similar “Right To Work” provisions make about $5,500 less per year than their counterparts in states without the measure.

“I think ‘Right to Work’ is a catchy phrase that’s really bad for workers,” said Shar Knutson, president of Minnesota AFL-CIO, which represents more than 300,000 workers throughout the state. “It asks Minnesotans to work for less money.”

More than 360,000 people in Minnesota belonged to a union in 2009, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau or Labor.

But Drazkowski said he thinks there’s strong support among residents for his proposed amendment, particularly allowing non-union workers to not pay dues. That change alone would provide workers with “hundreds of dollars more in disposable income,” he said.

Yep, that's what union workers want: lower average wages by thousands of dollars so that they don't have to pay union dues. Non-union workers' wages also are lower in right-to-work states.

Drazkowski has an interesting notion of choice. It's interesting that the "choice" for lower wages in hard times is being suggested only for the hoi polloi, but not the corporate elites, at a time of growing wealth inequality in the United States.

But given Draz's tendency to oppress the afflicted, perhaps his latest effort to help widen the ballooning gap between the rich and the rest of us in America isn't so surprising. Well, maybe to him -- if he's like his father, who claimed to have no idea what them there raves were all about until the party goers rained on his hay field.

Tongue in cheek: WSU English teacher gets cheeky about official English bill

Demonstrating the Republican House Majority's firm commitment to jobs creation while leaving divisive social issues behind, Mazeppa's Steve Drazkowski has introduced a bill to make English the North Star state's official language.

While I'm not certain of job creation potential in The Draz's bill as written (his rationale for the  bill is found here on his campaign website), it will dial back on over 150 years of official tolerance in Minnesota for speakers of languages other than English. In 1896, election instructions were printed in nine different languages, including Polish, the language of Draz's ancestors.

I shorten his name, a standard practice employed by the representative and candidate himself. The cost-saving of such a move are also explored in an op-ed piece by WSU English department member Chuck Ripley in today's Winona Daily news, Let’s outlaw lunch meat while we’re at it.

Like members of the Church of the Later Day Saints who seek out ancestors in order to include them in the "saving ordinances" of their faith, Ripley playfully suggests that the bill could require reparations from all people whose ancestors ever spoke languages other than English on Minnesota soil:

The bill must also make it a penalty for not speaking English at any time, applying it not only to the living but also to all of our grandparents, great-grandparents, who did not speak English or spoke it poorly.

The living descendants of these foreign-word smugglers ought to have enough shame to pay for any cost that the language of their ancestors did to our society with any legislative action. But as many people today remember these foreign words with misplaced nostalgia, the force of law will be required to instill a proper amount of embarrassment at one’s non-English-speaking ancestry and the social and financial harm their bizarre languages did to us all.

The least such people can do is to change their foreign-sounding last names to clear, simple English ones. The Minnesota Polish population alone costs the state millions in extra ink and paper with their long last names and harsh-sounding combination of consonants. . .

Would Draz challenge that? Only the Draz can answer that.

Ripley does suggest adding a job-creation angle to the bill:

Finally, as an English professor, I hope that Drazkowski will include an amendment to deputize English teachers to enforce the rules and customs of the language and the power to levy fines, imprison and deport all users of foreign languages as well as those who offer facile and divisive solutions to real problems.

Surely, with that added public safety responsibility, class sizes in MNSCU composition and developmental English classes would have to be smaller, requiring new hires across the state.

 

A win for Minnesota's vets: Dayton appoints Larry Shellito commissioner

My friends who have served in the National Guard all hold former Adjutant General of the MNG, Larry Shellito, in high esteem for the wauy in which he worked to reintegrate soldiers coming back from deployments in the wars. Doing that job for all of Minnesota's vets--young and old, and from all branches of the military, is going to be hard, but if anyone can, Shellito is the one. A great choice by Governor Dayton.

In Retired Guard general accepts 'calling' to state Vets Affairs post, staff reporter Mark Brunswick lays out how difficult a mission the job will be:

Shellito, 65, a Vietnam veteran who stepped down as head of the Minnesota Guard while facing mandatory retirement, said he actively sought the Veterans Affairs post, which coordinates programs and resources for the state's 131,000 veterans and their dependents.

"I threw my hat in the ring. One day you just wake up and say, 'There's still a lot of work that needs to be done,'" he said.

Under his guidance, the Guard began a pioneering Beyond the Yellow Ribbon campaign, which worked to ease the transition and reintegration of soldiers and their families after a deployment. It became the template for similar national programs for the Reserve, Guard components and active military.

The state faces a $6.2 billion budget deficit, but Shellito said he would work to sustain current $112.5 million funding for the department, the bulk of which is taken up with providing health care, including operating five veterans homes statewide. He said he also will work to break down barriers between state and federal programs, and will encourage such things as coordinating medical care on the local level for outstate veterans who might find it inconvenient to travel to VA Medical Centers in Fargo, St. Cloud or Minneapolis.

Representative Tim Walz, the highest ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress, issued a statement about the appointment that echoes my friends' sentiments about Shellito:

“From the days when General Shellito and I served together in the Minnesota National Guard, his commitment to those who have served our nation has been clear. He is a strong leader, a good listener, always focused on the mission at hand, an excellent manager and a visionary thinker. His foresight had the Minnesota National Guard prepared years in advance for their combat missions, guaranteeing the highest level of performance from our brave troops.

I am thrilled with Governor Dayton’s selection. I know as General Shellito transitions into this new role, he will bring the same dedication and work ethic he has in the past and will put veterans and their families first. I look forward to working with him to ensure that all the men and women who have risked life and limb in service of our country have the care they have earned.”

Congress on Your Corner: Walz to meet with constituents at Mocol's Super Market in Mankato

Will Jared Loughner's self-described "assassination" attempt outside a Safeway in Tucson make United States representatives less accessible to average citizens? Doesn't look like it in Minnesota, where even statewide politics still maintains a retail flavor.

Earlier today, fifth district congressman Keith Ellison announced a "Congress on Your Corner" event Friday at the Global Market Atrium, and Congressman Walz's office has scheduled a store stop in Mankato:

Today, Congressman Walz announced he will host a grocery store stop Friday morning in Mankato.

 

“Hearing the thoughts and ideas of southern Minnesotans is the cornerstone of our representative democracy. I am looking forward to the opportunity to hear from folks,” said Walz.

 

What: Congress on your Corner with Rep. Tim Walz

When: 11:00am – 1:00pm on Friday, January 14

Where: Mocol’s Super Market, 1001 N Broad St, Mankato

The Post Bulletin has more:

Walz's Press Secretary Sara Severs said the event is a way for the congressman to honor Giffords and to also show his commitment remains when it comes to being accessible to the public.

This has always been important to him and obviously that was one of the most shocking things about what happened on Saturday, (Giffords) was doing her job and doing what she was elected to do and he has always felt strongly about doing events like that and being accessible," Severs said.

Work will keep me away from the gathering, but I wish I could go. I've been to other grocery store stops that Walz has held, but this store has sentimental value.  Mocol's, the last remaining small, family-operated grocery store, is a Mankato institution, opened in 1917 by a Lebanese immigrant. The city's "Syrian" community should be familiar to the thousands of Maud Haud Lovelace fans who read her children's book, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill. Some of the stories about immigrants, language and bigotry in that book still strike a familiar chord.

The Mocol family is interviewed here in Mocol Boys..., a piece for the Voices in the Valley oral history project; I hope you go listen.  Then, if you live in the First and have time on Friday, go talk to your representative.

Photo-- What the store would have looked like when my own immigrant grandfather went down to Mocols with my late father--then a small boy--in tow. True or not, my father always said Grandpa learned Arabic from Lebanese immigrants in the Americanization class he took around the time of the First World War, and would haggled over fruit in Arabic. What did that language sound like with a heavy Danish accent?  Photo swiped from the audio project.

 

Grandstanding on gun rights: what exactly is state representative Tony Cornish pushing in aftermath of Arizona? Other than Tony Cornish?

Bluestem readers know that I favor gun rights, and my position might not be the most popular one in America right now, especially among my friends on the left. So be it.

That being said, an article in the Mankato Free Press has left me scratching my head. What is state representative Tony Cornish, who chairs the Public safety committee in the Minnesota House, really asking for in Cornish: What if somebody had been at shooting and returned fire?

 

Cornish talked to the MFP's political reporter Mark Fischenich:

State Rep. Tony Cornish has been doing numerous media interviews since the Saturday shooting of a federal lawmaker in Arizona.

The rural Good Thunder Republican is chairman of the House Public Safety Committee, but he’s also the Lake Crystal police chief and one of only a handful of Minnesota legislators who carries a handgun while at work in the state Capitol.

Cornish is suggesting no major changes in the way security is provided for state lawmakers. But his take on the Arizona assassination attempt of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, which killed six people and wounded 13, matches previous opinions he’s offered after shooting sprees: He wishes someone in the crowd had a weapon and had been ready to respond.

I can see the grandstanding on guns. I can see the pandering to those of us who support gun rights. It's politically astute, and Cornish is as polished a politician as ever had a Good Thunder post office box as a mailing address.

What I can't see is the logic, given the set of facts at the scene of the spree murder in Arizona. Slate reports in Gabrielle Giffords and the perils of guns: How an armed hero nearly shot the wrong man:

The new poster boy for this agenda is Joe Zamudio, a hero in the Tucson incident. Zamudio was in a nearby drug store when the shooting began, and he was armed. He ran to the scene and helped subdue the killer. Television interviewers are celebrating his courage, and pro-gun blogs are touting his equipment. "Bystander Says Carrying Gun Prompted Him to Help," says the headline in the Wall Street Journal.

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But before we embrace Zamudio's brave intervention as proof of the value of being armed, let's hear the whole story. "I came out of that store, I clicked the safety off, and I was ready," he explained on Fox and Friends. "I had my hand on my gun. I had it in my jacket pocket here. And I came around the corner like this." Zamudio demonstrated how his shooting hand was wrapped around the weapon, poised to draw and fire. As he rounded the corner, he saw a man holding a gun. "And that's who I at first thought was the shooter," Zamudio recalled. "I told him to 'Drop it, drop it!' "

But the man with the gun wasn't the shooter. He had wrested the gun away from the shooter. "Had you shot that guy, it would have been a big, fat mess," the interviewer pointed out.

Zamudio agreed:

I was very lucky. Honestly, it was a matter of seconds. Two, maybe three seconds between when I came through the doorway and when I was laying on top of [the real shooter], holding him down. So, I mean, in that short amount of time I made a lot of really big decisions really fast. … I was really lucky.

When Zamudio was asked what kind of weapons training he'd had, he answered: "My father raised me around guns … so I'm really comfortable with them. But I've never been in the military or had any professional training. I just reacted."

The Arizona Daily Star, based on its interview with Zamudio, adds two details to the story. First, upon seeing the man with the gun, Zamudio "grabbed his arm and shoved him into a wall" before realizing he wasn't the shooter. And second, one reason why Zamudio didn't pull out his own weapon was that "he didn't want to be confused as a second gunman."

This is a much more dangerous picture than has generally been reported. Zamudio had released his safety and was poised to fire when he saw what he thought was the killer still holding his weapon. Zamudio had a split second to decide whether to shoot. He was sufficiently convinced of the killer's identity to shove the man into a wall. But Zamudio didn't use his gun. That's how close he came to killing an innocent man. He was, as he acknowledges, "very lucky." . . .

. . .We're enormously lucky that Zamudio, without formal training, made the right split-second decisions. We can't count on that the next time some nut job starts shooting.  . .

According to those commies at the Wall Street Journal, Zamudio believes gun laws should be tightened. He also wonders what would have happened had he gotten there earlier.

Would he have capped the young killer? Or would Loughner had have the advantage of a drawn gun? According to a friend interviewed by the New York Times, Loughner is handy with a gun:

Mr. Gutierrez said one of their favorite activities was to shoot cans in the desert. “He was a damn great shot,” he said, adding: “If he had a gun pointed at me, there is nothing I could do because he would make it count. He was quick with a gun.”

One thing Zamudio didn't have was the training required of every carry permit holder in Minnesota, and under Arizona's laws, there's no telling how effective a random good citizen can have been in the situation. Certainly, Loughner, who had purchased his Glock legally, was aware of the fact that anyone in the crowd or nearby (like Zamudio) could be carrying. He was not deterred.

Cornish suggests that more people start carrying at the Capitol; it's legal, and there's nothing stopping a law-abiding citizen who follows the rule for the premises to do so. But his concerns about the state capitol's design and the nature of the foot traffic inside make me wonder whether counting on an attacker being a "coward" in the face of returned fire is much defense at all.

Especially if that "coward" is a "damn great shot."  Perhaps Cornish should turn his attention figuring out ways to fund mental health programs and community college counseling offices so the Loughners of this world get the help they so evidently need--before they reach for a gun.

 

 

Youtube: Three Eagles Radio interviews Rep. Walz about Gabby Giffords, security, and the importance of access

Congressman Tim Walz talks to a local news outlet about the Arizona shootings and his friendship with Gabby Giffords. Like Representatives Ellison and Bachmann in Minnesota, Walz was first elected in the same "freshman class" as Giffords.

Collin Peterson's statement on the Arizona shootings

Like Seventh CD representative Collin Peterson, Gabby Giffords is a member of the conservative Blue Dogs Caucus. Peterson's statement about the shootings hasn't been as widely circulated as those of his colleagues, but it did find its way into the Fergus Falls Journal:

“I was shocked and saddened to hear of the shooting of my colleague and friend Gabrielle Giffords, and other staff and constituents in Tucson today.

“Gabby is a terrific Congresswoman, and someone who works very well with members on both sides of the aisle. She is really an up-and-coming leader in Congress. My prayers are with her and her family as she fights to survive, and my thoughts go out to the families of those who died or were injured in this senseless act of violence.”

Hat tip to Al Juhnke's Outstate News at Middle Minnesota.

 

Walz statement on Shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords (and my own thoughts)

That Representative Gabrielle Giffords and many others were shot at a meet-the-congresswoman event at a grocery store made today's tragedy in Arizona a little closer to home.

I'd been to a couple of Congressman Walz's famous stops at Hyvees and other grocery stores to observe and report on the Mankato Democrat and his staff listen to constituents' concerns. Over the years, I've got on a friendly footing with the staff, and knowing that those shot in Arizona are probably much like my friends here--kind, caring people who work hard for the people the boss serves--was a bit of a gut punch.

And I know other staffers for representatives and our two senators--so the notion that one of them might be murdered at work is chilling indeed. My sympathies go out to the victims and their families; it must be particularly brutal for the family of the dead child to go through such heartbreak.

We should be able to meet with elected officials without fear. And when people are angry--as Americans sometimes are--a soft answer should be able to turn away wrath, as Minnesota witnessed in the confrontation between Governor Dayton and a group of Tea Party protesters earlier this week.

Reactions to today's shooting are coming in from around the state and nation. Congressman Walz sent out the following statement:

Gwen and I are devastated. This is an unthinkable tragedy for our nation. Attacks on public servants and their staff have no place in America. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gabrielle, her husband Mark, Gabrielle’s staff and their families, and the families of everyone who was hurt or killed today.

Photo: Congressman Walz talking to Southern Minnesotans in a local grocery store, 2008.

Blogs you should read: Come Saturday Morning and Renaissance Post on the grown-up governor

While her identity remains shrouded in mystery, blogger Phoenix Woman is no stranger to those who want their political commentary served with style and sass. In today's Come Saturday Morning: Governor Grownup Shows Us How It’s Done, over at FireDoglake, she writes:

Now Pawlenty is gone, free to pursue his presidential pipe dream for which he nearly wrecked the state by putting the whims of hard-right GOP presidential primary voters above the welfare of the people he was elected to govern. The nationwide Republican wave succeeded in tipping both state legislative houses back into official GOP control, but even it couldn’t get the virulent teabagger Tom Emmer into the Governor’s Mansion, and for the first time since my early adulthood, Minnesota now has a Democratic governor, Mark Dayton.

In this day and age, it’s a common thing for Democratic executive-branch leaders, be they governors or presidents, to cower at the sight of Republicans — and this is doubly true when the Republicans actually have official control of one or houses of a state or Federal legislature. Which is why it’s so refreshing to see Governor Dayton, politely yet fearlessly, go toe-to-toe with Republicans and their patrons.

Go over and read the rest of it there. In noting the strength of Dayton's pick for Department of Natural Resources commissioner--Tom Landwehr, the dream candidate for outdoors enthusiasts and conservationists--the post draws from commentary by Neil Haugerud, now writing at Renaissance Post.

Bookmark Renaissance Post. Haugerud delivers nuggets like these:

Landwehr’s appointment terminates an unhappy period in resource management direction in the Land of Sky Blue Waters. Neither the Boy Governor, nor his Wrasslin’ predecessor could see the need to go beyond cronyism in their natural resources appointments. Those administrations seemed to think that companionship in the blind or duck boat (duties amply served by competent Labrador retrievers) was sufficient qualification for a Natural Resources Commissioner. Dayton rightfully recognizes the value that Minnesotans place on their wildlands and outdoor recreation, and his appointment reflects the challenge and gravity of resource management.

Emphasis on the sentence that induced envy here in Hutch, and an appreciation for a Governor who can respect both a good dog and good government, while possessing the wisdom to know the difference.

A larger-than-life figure in Fillmore County, Haugerud:

has been — among other things — a carpenter, a farmer, a Sunday school teacher, a Marine, an interrogator of accused criminals (who got his subjects to talk with kindness, not waterboarding), a deputy sheriff and sheriff, a real estate and insurance agent, a prominent state legislator, the chair of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission, a small-town newspaper columnist, a mediator and consultant in conflict management, and a loving husband, father, and grandfather.

Some readers may remember his commentary in the Star Tribune, We're creating police who are quick to shoot, published shortly after the 2009 police killing of Tyler Heilman in Kasota. It's good to hear from another progressive voice in rural Minnesota.

Photo: Governor Mark Dayton.

Scott Kranz, Brian Davis and the missing years of Brad Biers

Reading Politics in Minnesota this week, I came across a familiar name in an article about new state senate staffers in the Republican majority caucus:

Brad Biers (Health and Human Services), a longtime Republican operative, has been a partner at the consulting firm Capitol Communications in recent years. Biers’ clients included Allen Quist in his bid for the Republican endorsement to challenge U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, a Democrat. Before that he was communications director at the Taxpayers League of Minnesota for a year. Back in 2005, Biers was Michele Bachmann’s campaign manager when she first ran for Congress.

A few years are missing from that account, including Biers' 2007-2008 turn as campaign manager for Republican First District endorsee Brian Davis. A memorable statement, preserve as if in amber in pages of the Post Bulletin's Political Party blog:

Brad Biers, Davis campaign manager added, "Dick Day's liberal record in the Legislature as a tax raiser and big spender have written his political fate.  Whether it's 200 people voting in the endorsement or 20,000 Republicans voting in the primary, people are tired of "politicians" who say one thing and do another."

That's surely how everyone remembers Dick Day, the former Senate minority leader.

Biers left the Davis campaign in August 2008 to work for the Taxpayers' League "No Constitutional Tax Increase” campaign. The heritage amendment won with 55.99 percent of the vote. Walz won the First that year with 62.50 pecent to Davis's 32.93 percent.

The successes of the late 2007 through 2008 election cycle isn't the only thing elided from Biers' professional history. In 2006, Biers lost the MN House District 51A seat to Scott Kranz.

I remember Biers well from the Davis campaign. Good times.

 

Conservative sisterhood is powerful: VOICESPAC director throws Twila Brase under the bus after anti-Dayton protest fiasco

Earlier today, Bluestem reviewed how the rocking-chair media neglected one of the basic "5 Ws" of journalism by failing to identify Jake Macmillian/MacAulay as more than "citizen" in yesterday's coverage of Governor Dayton's press conference.

If that omission is neglect, then VOICES of Conservative Women director Jennifer DeJournett should be charged with depraved indifference to the facts in her treatment of Citizens' Council For Health Freedom President Twila Brase in the former's True North post, Dayton Press Conference sponsored by the Lifetime Movie Network.

The legacy press failed to identify Citizen Jake's activism and ministry; the conservative blogger went a step more by failing to use Brase's name at all.

She wrote:

To the amazement of Minnesota press, activists watching online, and, probably, the protesters in the room, Governor Dayton invited his detractors to the podium.   The protestors spoke with passion but were clearly unprepared for this important political moment.   There were no prepared talking points, no storytelling, and no clear action item to their message.  Watching from home, I wondered: where was one leader in the group who could concisely sum up the message in 2 minutes, with an action item for the people at home watching?  Why wasn’t this person speaking on behalf of the cause?   On this day, there was no coherent message.  As a result, our side lost the moment because we were not prepared, not because we were wrong about the matter at hand.  Their incoherent message detracted from the prepared remarks of our elected leaders who planned a concise message regarding the economic damage that Dayton’s signature would yield.

DeJournett could thus lament the quality of the conservative response to Dayton's move to expand Medicare in Minnesota, decrying the lack of leadership, without having to note--by name--the blistering failure of a well-known conservative woman who is an acknowledged leader in the health care debate. Moreover, DeJournett could also beat her hobby horse of the need of conservatives to recruit more women leaders.

This may be enough to hoodwink the North Star state's sleep-walking press corps, who will no doubt repeat the talking point that the Tea Party reception for Governor Dayton was grassroots and leaderless. Perhaps they might want to review the many tapes of the event, in which Brase clearly indentified herself.

DeJournett implies that the naifs at the podium--so generously offered in the spirit of free speech by Governor Dayton--were simply not prepared in the face of Dayton's lifelong preparation for singular, defining moment of his career.

Seriously?

While DeJournett sees Dayton as a master political actor, she must have missed the Star Tribune profile last year noting Brase's own mad skills:

Among insiders, she is an acknowledged master of political theater, turning out raucous crowds for hearings and staging publicity stunts such as a recent "Obamacare" shredding party in the Capitol rotunda. She said she solicited no votes for Modern Healthcare magazine's 2009 list of "100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare."

And--unless she has a very short memory or really bad reception from where she was watching at home--Dejournett must know who Brase is. After all, they shared the stage at last April 15's St. Paul Tax Day Tea Party at the Capitol. As a matter of fact, Brase had third billing in the events, while Dejournett fell considerably further down the list.

Brase has been trotted out by Minnesota conservatives at nearly every debate and discussion of health care reform and "Obamacare" in the past few years.

Take a look at her credentials from a pdf on the Citizens Council for Health Freedom

In August 2009, Modern Healthcare magazine named her as #75 on the “100 Most PowerfulPeople in Healthcare” list. In May 2010, the Star Tribune profiled her on the front page: “Twila Brase: Health care power or health care pain?” In 2000, the Minnesota Physician magazine selected her as one of “Minnesota’s 100 Most Influential Health Care Leaders.” . . .

Ms. Brase provides daily radio commentary through the “Health Freedom Minute” (AM 1280 - The Patriot), provides testimony at the legislature, meets with members of Congress, and speaks around the country. For example, she has presented on topics such as:
• The intrusive wellness and prevention initiatives in ObamaCare (Washington, D.C.)
• Patient privacy and need for consent (Congressional staff briefings; NM legislative committee)
• Danger of “evidence-based medicine”(EBM) (Washington Policy Center (Seattle))
• Proposed health care reform ( Kentucky business forum/Minnesota Tea Party rallies)
• Evidence-Based Medicine (State Policy Network forum in Miami; Physician forum Ohio)

She also testified against imposing a national patient identification number before a federal committee in Chicago. Her article “Blame Congress for HMOs” has been placed into the Congressional Record of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is regularly invited to join with other health care experts in a 2-day summit hosted by The Cato Institute.

Ms. Brase’s media interviews include: CNN, Fox News, KARE-TV (NBC), KTLK, Minnesota Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, NBC TODAY SHOW, NPR, New York Public Radio and WCCO-TV. She has been quoted in The Associated Press, Dallas Morning News, Medical Economics, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Modern Healthcare, St. Paul Pioneer Press, TIME, TheWall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, UPI, WORLD, andWORLDNETDAILY, to name a few.

This is not a newbie. This is a person quite practiced in speaking about health care issues. This is a person who can condense a message to a “Health Freedom Minute” on AM 1280 - The Patriot.

Leadership? This is a spokester who appeared on Glenn Beck's show with no less than Tom Emmer himself on April 24, 2009. (The Emmer channel is gone--but the clip can be seen here).

This is a person Minnesota Majority gave second billing only to Michele Bachmann herself at a rally last March, as the Minnesota Progressive Project reported.

This is a person who barnstormed across Southern Minnesota with Allen Quist, scolding Congressman Walz about health care reform.

Now, having been at one of the events staged by Quist at the Happy Chef in North Mankato, I can say from personal experience that I found Brase's notions to be close to barking mad. However, her presentation skills were acceptable.

And yet DeJournett has erased the name of this leader--who organized Wednesday's protest--as surely as a Stalin-era photojournalist in the old Soviet Union following a purge. What's up with that?

Photo: Twila Brase.

GIYF: a note on Governor Dayton's civility, Citizen Jake, and rocking chair media sloth

Welcome, Minnpost readers:

Brian Lambert uses the time-tested MSM gambit for critics of the media.

First, label their analysis as emotionaL, or "worked up."

Second, deny or belittle the claim. Unfortunately for Lambert, when he writes  "TPT might have flubbed it, but MacMillian/McAulay was ID’d as an “activist” by others, if not a leader of the anti-gay “ministry”/radio show “You Can Run But You Can Not Hide[,]” he fails to identify those traditional news sources which did identify MacMillian/MaAulay's ministry (and they were, other than Andy Birkey at MNIndy,whom exactly?)--or to explain why "activist" furthers public understanding.

But then, what might one expect from a post in which my last name is spelled incorrectly? Circle the wagons and clutch your Calvins, gentlemen and women of the press, but get facts  and names right.

My original post:

Governor Dayton is earning high marks for his civility to friend and foe alike at yesterday's event, but the legacy media's wan performance in identifying those who sought to disrupt the bully pulpit is another matter.

It's provocative for a citizen to call for government to get out of health care, and let the churches provide for the poor. And that young man has a right to speak, as Governor Dayton honorably and quietly pointed out to the press and assembled public alike.

It's approaching journalistic malfeasance for the press to lack the curiosity to ask a simple "five W" question about "who" that young man at the podium might be.  It's their duty to ask such questions, a responsibility implied in the freedom of the press.

In short, in this age of civility, please realise that Google Is Your Friend (GIYF), Minnesota Public Television et al. With Mark Dayton serving as Governor and providing a model of decorous and gracious behavior, I promise not to use the potty mouth version of the acronym.

In return, I ask you to do your jobs and indentify those who insert themselves into the public discourse. Indeed, developing the slight amount of curosity in the Internet age might help you better understand the material you craft into "news." Almanac identified Jake MacMillian as "citizen" in the screenshot above. But he's much more than that, and informing viewers and readers about that identity serves the public interest.

After all, this "ministry" is no stranger to the political storyline that led to Dayton's election; Jake MacMillian/ McAulay's fellow "minister" Bradlee Dean played a strong supporting role last year. Dean's radio approval of kindred spirits in murderous homophobia was a key piece in the "Target supports an anti-gay politician" narrative that led many to boycott the retailer.

Fortunately, the not-so-rocking-chair media is online to help. Ripple in Stillwater asks some key questions about what Jake's own church might be doing for the poor in Punk anti-gay 'minister' tells Governor Dayton churches should provide health care for the poor. Answer: not much.

MacAulay raises some interesting points—especially considering he’s supposedly a paid ordained minister in a church himself. So as long as he’s asking, where is MacAulay’s “church” in all this?

I’ve spent a lot of time in the past few weeks looking into MacAulay’s mysterious “church” and have found virtually nothing about what it does or who it serves—other than the tens of thousands of dollars in grants it has received from its sister “ministry” YCR, and the $360,000 Annandale property it once owned that’s the home of Bradley Dean Smith, aka Bradlee Dean.

MacAulay is listed as the “agent” and “incorporator” of Old Paths Church, Inc. and YCR in filings with the State of Minnesota. The mission of Old Paths Church, its Articles of Incorporation state, “is to proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to develop Christian leadership, to perform charitable work and to otherwise function as a church.” Nothing about providing medical help for the poor, as he so eloquently demanded of his fellow church brethren.

There are no expenses reported for indigent medical services—or any other kind of medical services—in the tax filings, state filings or an independent audit of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International. Nor are there any other expenses listed that could conceivably be related to medical services. No tax records are available for Old Paths Church, which shares the same Annandale address as YCR.

RIS blogger Karl Bremer suggests that Jake should share his own ministry for the poor--a move that would also make his identity easily discoverable by the legacy press:

The next time “Pastor” MacAulay decides to take the podium and preach about what churches should be doing for the poor, perhaps he should stick around to enlighten his congregation as to what his own Old Paths Church is doing in that capacity. Or what it’s doing in any capacity, other than trying to shelter its income from the government.

At Dump Bachmann, Ken Avidor--another discipline of this arcane "Google" tool--looks at reportage from the opposing side in Bradlee Dean's Ministry Posts Video of "Son of Liberty" Crashing Governor's Press Conference.

One thing curious readers learn from Avidor's post--if they didn't know this already--Jake and his partner in crime Bradlee Dean also have a radio show. So Citizen Jake is not only a minister, but media himself, though apparently not bound by any ethical constraints to identify himself as a radio host. The curious might wish to listen on Saturday.

Avidor also points out that Jake didn't pop his protest cherry in Dayton's reception room:

This isn't the first time Jake has disrupted a political gathering - Jake crashed a DFL meet & greet in Cokato months ago and "confronted" gubernatorial candidate John Marty on his support for marriage equality (video here).

A curious narrative arc indeed, but not one the public will find on the pages of the credentialled press, save for MnIndy's sharp-eyed Birkey.

Related post:  Conservative sisterhood is powerful: VOICESPAC director throws Twila Brase under the bus after anti-Dayton protest fiasco

Screenshots: TPT identifies Jake MacMillian as "Citizen." (via Dump Bachmann, above); Minnpost's commentary about this post--because there's no finer way to belittle a post about the "who" in the five Ws than to spell the critic's name wrong (below).

MFP: Jeremy Giefer's spouse charged in December 2 incident

The Mankato Free Press reports in Giefer’s wife charged with violating order:

A Vernon Center woman whose husband has been charged with sexually assaulting a girl now faces a criminal charge herself for allegedly bringing her husband near the victim.

A misdemeanor charge of violating a no-contact order has been filed against Susan Raye Giefer, 32. The charge stems from a Dec. 2 incident involving her husband, 37-year-old Jeremy Allen Giefer, and the girl he is accused of sexually assaulting more than 250 times over several years. . . .

. . .The foster parents of the victim reported they warned the Giefers about being too close and violating a court order to stay away from the victim. Jeremy Giefer was charged shortly after the incident. Susan Giefer was charged Tuesday because she allegedly knew about the meeting and brought her husband there, said Capt. Rich Murry of the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Department.

Why does this case continue to stay in news? The MFP notes:

The Giefer case has drawn statewide attention because he was pardoned in 2008 for a 1994 sexual assault conviction. He was 19 at the time and admitted to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. That victim was Susan Giefer. The fact that he married her was cited as a reason for the pardon by some who supported it.

Those citing this reason conveniently ignore the fact that Giefer sired at least one child outside of that marriage just before the pardon was granted, was arrested for slapping his son, played a part in a sexual prank that led to a local policeman losing his job, had a disorderly conduct rap on his sheet.

I can understand Pawlenty and his administration in wanting to claim Giefer is a model husband and father; Pawlenty wants to be President. What's more difficut in understanding are the motives of his other defenders. What do they gain from enabling this man's behavior?

And what sort of person is Susan Giefer,a mother who enables her husband after the rape of her own daughter--the product of that first coupling when she herself was fourteen?

Photo: Jeremy and Susan Giefer.

Press release: Minnesota Farmers Union sets 2011 legislative priorities

I'm an active member of the Minnesota Farmers Union. Here's the family-farmers' group's agenda for the session:

With grassroots input from its farmer-membership, Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU) has set priorities for the 2011 legislative session.

“This legislative session will be about the state’s budget shortfalls and how we improve the economy and create jobs,” said Doug Peterson, MFU President. “MFU will be at the table when proposed cuts are being discussed to address the over $6 billion budget deficit, and will work with the Dayton Administration and legislators on addressing property tax concerns, promoting local foods, and energy legislation, and ensuring that the needs of rural Minnesotans and the farming sector are addressed.”

Agriculture makes up a very small part of the state’s budget, yet somewhere between 20-30% of the jobs and wealth in Minnesota are agriculture-related. MFU will work to ensure sound funding for food safety, energy, education, livestock, sustainable and organic programs.

These are just some of the issues MFU will be working on in the 2011 legislative session. Also, these are the issues MFU members will be talking to legislators about when they head to the state Capitol on Thursday, February 8, 2011, for their annual lobby day. For more information, go to www.mfu.org.

Minnesota Farmers Union (www.mfu.org) is a nonprofit membership-based organization working to protect and enhance the economic interests and quality of life of family farmers and ranchers, as well as rural communities.