Bluestem Prairie

Attention-starved Lee Byberg trolls for media coverage with Romney 47-percent solidarity

Second-time Republican MNCD7 sacrificial lamb Lee Byberg is trolling for his own Franson-esque fifteen minutes of fame by standing in solidarity with Mitt Romney's remarks that 47 percent of Americans.

Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports in Congressional candidate Byberg backs Romney on 47 percent claim:

Lee Byberg, the Republican candidate in Minnesota's 7th Congressional District, is embracing Republican Mitt Romney's comments at a private fundraiser that 47 percent of Americans 'believe they are victims' and are entitled to help from the government that permeates their lives.

Romney's remarks were recorded without his knowledge and were first reported by Mother Jones Magazine. At a hastily called news conference on Monday night, Romney didn't back off the comments but said they were made "off the cuff" and weren't "elegantly stated." The comments were widely criticized by the Obama campaign, Democrats and several Republicans, among others.

But Byberg, who is challenging DFL Rep. Collin Peterson, announced his support for Romney's comments.

"Romney was merely stating the obvious," Byberg said in a statement. He added that he believed any criticism of Romney "missed the point." . . .

Scheck notes that Byberg lost to Peterson by nearly 18 percent in 2010. On September 5, DLonline (Detriot  Lakes) reported about the campaign in Byberg homes in on Collin Peterson; on September 14, Hot Dish Politics at the Strib reported in "God Bless the USA" singer will join 7th District Republican candidate for event:

. . .Byberg's campaign might need the lift. As of his last campaign finance report, he had $91,921 cash on hand and $120,370 in debt. By contrast, Peterson had $799,953 and no [debt].

That's about it as far as recent news coverage goes--so  Byberg is tying his wagon to Romney's star.  It's not a crowded limelight: Huffington Post reports that many Republican Candidates Signal Concern On Mitt Romney Video Comments.

USA Today's Gregory Korte answers the question Who are the 47%?:

Who are the 47%? The Tax Policy Center’s Donald Marron said they fall into three main groups:

The working poor. The earned income tax credit and the child credit can help families making $50,000 or more pay no taxes or get money back. About 60% of those not paying income taxes do contribute to payroll taxes — which means they must have some source of earned income.

The elderly. An increased standard deduction for those over 65, and an exemption on part of Social Security earnings, means that many older Americans pay no income taxes — even though most of them paid into the system through decades of paying taxes.

The low-income. A family of four claiming only the standard deduction and personal exemptions pays no federal income tax on its first $27,000 of income.

But not all non-taxpayers fit into those categories. Even the ultra-wealthy can avoid paying taxes — for example, if their income comes from tax-exempt bonds. Tax Policy Center data show that perhaps 24,000 of the top 1% of earners pay no federal income taxes.

There's also the question of who gets "government benefits":

How many Americans get government assistance? Using different methods and different definitions of entitlements, estimates vary from 37% (the liberal CBPP) to 41% (the conservative Heritage Foundation) to 49% (the Wall Street Journal).

Greenstein said it’s a mistake to use those figures to divide Americans into those who contribute and those who do not. Many of today’s “takers” were yesterday’s “makers,” he said.

Social Security and Medicare are the most expensive entitlements. “If you don’t have a sufficient work history, you’re not eligible.”

And then there's the other part. Romney implies that anyone receiving assistance wouldn't vote for him (and with the knowledge of his attitude spreading perhaps that will veer toward a self-fulfilling prophecy) but polling doesn't bear  him out:

And Romney was wrong to suggest that those 47% support his opponent “no matter what.” Gallup’s daily tracking poll shows that a third of those with incomes less than $24,000 support Romney, and about half of retirement-age voters do. Add those two groups together, and Obama has a slight lead, 49% to 43%, Gallup pollster Frank Newport says.

So what's the math here  in the Seventh?  The U.S. Census's Factfinder site contains a file for the district of economic characteristics drawn from the 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Here's some of the relevant data (though not matched with taxpayer status):

INCOME AND BENEFITS (IN 2010 INFLATION-ADJUSTED DOLLARS)
Total households	254,714	+/-1,299	254,714	(X)
Less than $10,000	17,040	+/-673	6.7%	+/-0.3
$10,000 to $14,999	16,935	+/-642	6.6%	+/-0.2
$15,000 to $24,999	30,663	+/-735	12.0%	+/-0.3
$25,000 to $34,999	29,906	+/-792	11.7%	+/-0.3
$35,000 to $49,999	40,979	+/-826	16.1%	+/-0.3
$50,000 to $74,999	54,321	+/-1,033	21.3%	+/-0.4
$75,000 to $99,999	33,030	+/-740	13.0%	+/-0.3
$100,000 to $149,999	22,467	+/-649	8.8%	+/-0.3
$150,000 to $199,999	5,147	+/-324	2.0%	+/-0.1
$200,000 or more	4,226	+/-280	1.7%	+/-0.1
Median household income (dollars)	46,732	+/-399	(X)	(X)
Mean household income (dollars)	57,506	+/-389	(X)	(X)
With earnings	200,380	+/-1,421	78.7%	+/-0.3
Mean earnings (dollars)	57,245	+/-400	(X)	(X)
With Social Security	81,595	+/-777	32.0%	+/-0.3
Mean Social Security income (dollars)	14,705	+/-106	(X)	(X)
With retirement income	38,080	+/-740	15.0%	+/-0.3
Mean retirement income (dollars)	18,344	+/-352	(X)	(X)
With Supplemental Security Income	7,529	+/-385	3.0%	+/-0.2
Mean Supplemental Security Income (dollars)	8,225	+/-248	(X)	(X)
With cash public assistance income	8,491	+/-467	3.3%	+/-0.2
Mean cash public assistance income (dollars)	2,576	+/-216	(X)	(X)
With Food Stamp/SNAP benefits in the past 12 months	17,087	+/-669	6.7%	+/-0.3

 How will this stand play out? Bluestem thinks that Byberg may ride Kurt Bills' coattails, should Bills be able to solidify the activist base after losing CD7 to challenger David Carlson last month. But then, there's always that concert with Lee Greenwood--in Mary Franson's Alexandria.

Of course, Byberg's thinking is a bit different than the deep social contract philosophy shared by Franson in her famous video when she compared feeding poor people with food support to feeding wild animals. Byberg wants poor folks and those living on Social Security without additional retirement to feed the beast. MPR quotes Byberg:

"We have almost half of the population that is not paying federal income taxes. So we are depriving from them the opportunity to feel that they are part of what it takes to fund a nation," Byberg said. "That is not a good thing."

What a feel good moment that would be, Lee!

Photo: Lee Byberg and a senior citizen. Is she one of the moochers in the 47%?

Related post: Heartless in the heartland: Representative Mary Franson compares feeding food stamp recipients to feeding wild animals

Worthington Globe: Congress shouldn't dawdle; new Farm Bill deserves up or down vote now

Out in Nobles County, the editors of the Worthington Globe aren't mincing words about Eric Cantor's move to cancel an October House work session while major legislation languishes.

In Congress needs to get to work, the editorial board states:

In July, a new five-year Farm Bill passed out of the House Agriculture Committee on a bipartisan vote of 35-11. Yet, despite that support, the bill sits idling away in a House that is shirking its responsibility to move legislation forward. . . .

The new Farm Bill is not on this week’s agenda, which seems remarkable considering the current legislation expires at the end of this month — and the fact that farm policies would revert back to those of decades ago should nothing be done.

Rep. Tim Walz issued a statement Monday morning decrying the inaction, and it’s right on target.

“The American people go about their business every day and expect Congress to do the same. I am absolutely appalled that House leadership would send us home without getting our chores done and voting on a five-year Farm Bill.

“In small towns across this country, local businesses depend on the farm economy to survive,” he continued. “When farmers do well, local businesses do well. Farmers spend their money on Main Street. ... Without a five-year Farm Bill, these businesses will also suffer.”

The editorial mentions old farm policies that will kick into place if nothing is done. But for dairy farmers, there's a more immediate problem with the expiration of MILC months before the old parity pricing kicks in if no bill is passed.

Yesterday, Politico reported in Farm bill finale: Milk, mayhem:

Dairy interests are most in a pickle because their Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) expires with the current law at the end of this month. But producers are still reluctant to sign onto any extension if it jeopardizes the chances for the greater security promised in the five-year bill.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is spearheading an effort to extend MILC and enrich the payments in light of the drought impacting farmers and feed prices. And the draft House bill backfills recent program cuts and extends MILC to Dec. 1.

The added cost would be about $50 million according to preliminary estimates—a clear bid to get dairy votes. But one industry lobbyist remained skeptical: “The risk is far is greater than the reward right now,” she told POLITICO.

Indeed, there has been remarkable unity thus far among commodity groups and sometimes rival farm organizations like the American Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union. The crop insurance industry –typically cautious about any political stand—most recently added its name to the same Farm Bill Now coalition. And this support has emboldened Democrats to stand firm.

What's even more outrageous is the potential cost of either doing nothing or passing a cosmetic short extension. The West Central Tribune reports in Peterson: Farm bill unlikely soon:

But long term, taxpayers could end up paying more, Peterson said.

Without a new farm bill, planned food stamp cuts won’t take effect. Plus, absent a new farm bill, federal law requires crop price supports to default to those in the 1949 farm bill — much higher than today for commodities such as milk and wheat, he said.

Peterson said Republicans are rolling the dice, gambling the November election delivers them the Senate and the presidency. Then they can write a farm bill to their liking – perhaps gutting the sugar and dairy programs, or slashing aid such as food stamps, he said.

In the meantime, Peterson said Republicans are seeking a 90-day extension of the 2008 farm bill.

“That is complete nonsense because there is no problem for 90 days. There’s a problem the 91st day,” Peterson said. “This is another disingenuous gesture to try to get their members off the hook.

“This is all cover so they can vote for this and tell people at home they did something,” Peterson said. “They’re just playing all kinds of games.

And what happens on the 91st day? Peterson explains:

Peterson said the first big effect of no farm bill would come on Jan. 1. That’s when the USDA would be required to support a price of a minimum of $38.48 per hundredweight for milk. In contrast, milk prices averaged about $16.60 per hundredweight in July, USDA reports.

Next comes winter wheat in May, when the harvest begins in Texas.

The 1949 parity price for wheat is 16.50 per bushel, and the government would have to support a price that’s 90 percent of that, Peterson said.

Wheat on Friday was selling for $9.05 to $10.66 per bushel, depending on the variety, quality and when it’s delivered, according to the Portland (Ore.) Daily Grain Report. . . .

These potentially costly games must stop--and they underscore the inherent nincompoopery of Republican campaign strategy that allows Allen Quist to blither on about Rolls Royce owners on food stamps while farm groups ask for passage of a five-year farm bill.Get 'er done, Congress.

Photo: Combining corn.

Related post: Quist misleads about new Farm Bill on Late Debate; calls legislation "Food Stamps and Gold Bullion Bill"

First DCCC ad in MNCD8 slams Congressman Chip Cravaack's post-secondary education votes

After reading pro-Cravaack letter last week in the Duluth News Tribune that also touted Iron Range community colleges and tech schools,  Bluestem asked Fact checking DNT Letter: Is Chip Cravaack good for Iron Range community & technical colleges?

The answer wasn't positive for Chip Cravaack; the freshman congressman have voted to cut Pell Grants, to slash TRiO and other counter-productibe measures.

Seems like we weren't the only ones checking out his record on post-secondary education. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released its first ad slamming Cravaack on education. The script, via the DCCC's website:

Script of DCCC IE AD “Tradition”: 

Voiceover:      In Minnesota, we have a tradition of valuing education.

That’s why Chip Cravaack’s priorities are so wrong.

Cravaack voted to cut Pell Grants for 23,000 Minnesota college students.

He voted to cut overall education funding by $115 billion. And Cravaack supported eliminating the Department of Education.

All while voting to give millionaires a new tax cut.

Chip Cravaack.  He’s just wrong for Minnesota.

The video:

Photo: Chip Cravaack at the Nimrod Parade.

Rochester Post Bulletin endorses DFL challenger Judy Ohly over Senate Majority Leader Senjem

In Mayo Civic Center shut out of DEED funding, the Rochester Post Bulletin reported:

Mayo Civic Center was shut out of funding today in its quest for state help in a $77 million expansion of the site in downtown Rochester. . . .

The city had asked for $35 million during the last legislative session, and Dayton’s bonding proposal included the project, but the Republican-led Legislature decided not to include any civic centers. Instead, they created the grant pool and a set of criteria to determine which projects should get funded.

. . .The civic center seemed well poised to get funded heading into the last legislative session after Rochester Republican Sen. Dave Senjem was named both Senate Majority Leader and chairman of the Senate Capital Investment Committee. But the bill failed to make it into the final bonding bill with civic center projects facing strong opposition from some legislative Republicans. In the end, Senjem and state Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, pushed for this DEED grant as a way to fund some economic development projects. Both lawmakers said the criteria was written with the civic center project in mind.

But at the press conference today, Dayton said that Senjem was simply unwilling to fund the civic center in the bonding bill this past legislative session.

The failure to secure funding for this project played in the Post Bulletin's decision to endorse Judy Ohly, the DFL challenger in Senate District 25. In Our View: Senate District 25 Judy Ohly vs. Dave Senjem, the editorial board writes:

Senjem shouldn't bear the blame alone. We're not thrilled with Dayton, DEED and some other Republican members of Rochester's legislative delegation. If they'd fought for the civic center in the House, things might have turned out differently.

But they didn't. And in this case, the buck stops with Sen. Senjem. He didn't deliver, and in this election year, there's a strong challenger waiting in the wings.

The editors praise Ohly's tested experience as an Olmsted County commissioner and business woman in endorsing her over Senjem, though it's something else that closed the deal for them:

Ultimately, however, what we like most about Ohly is the "local" knowledge she'd bring to St. Paul and her eagerness to help other legislators understand what's been taking place in counties all over Minnesota for years.

Earlier endorsements went to incumbents Duane Quam (R-Byron) for 25A and Kim Norton (DFL-Rochester) in the House races in SD25. In SD26, the paper endorsed incumbent Tina Liebling  (DFL) on the A side, and DFL challenger Pat Stallman over Mike Benson in the B half.

Senjem was under pressure from the Rochester Tea Party Patriots for sponsoring the civic center. On March 28, the group's twitter account posted:

 

Another Etch-A-Sketch politician...Dave Senjem decides to put the Mayo Civic Center back into the bonding bill. #mnleg

— Rochester MN TPP (@RochesterMN_TPP) March 28, 2012

The next day:

 

Senate Bonding bill is irresponsible. Funding a Civic Ctr that is $10 million behind in repairs & runs 1 mil in hole evry yr. #mnleg

— Rochester MN TPP (@RochesterMN_TPP) March 29, 2012

 

Readers will get the drift. When DEED didn't fund the proposal:

 

Congrats Members, Thanks forthe letters you wroteto DEEDs RT @pbhcarlson: Mayo Civic Center doesn't make DEED funding list. #rochmn

— Rochester MN TPP (@RochesterMN_TPP) September 13, 2012

Will the endorsement matter as the candidates sprint toward the finish line?

Photo: Judy Ohly.

Readers can like Ohly's Facebook page here, and learn more about her at her campaign website. Follow her on twitter at @JudyOhly.

Related post: New Ulm Journal's Josh Moniz may not get invited to all MNGOP fundraisers, but still records Senate Majority's Senjem misleading

Minnesota's Not-Kluwe, Bradlee Dean, to empty the seats for Maryland homophobe rallies

Bluestem's loyal friend Ken Avidor passes along news of the circuit-riding "ministry" of Bluestem's most famous local homophobe, toxic rocker Bradlee Dean (he's based in Annandale, not far from Bluestem World Headquarters in sunny Hutchinson).

Recently, Vikes' punter Chris Kluwe made waves weighing in on the pro-gay marriage ballot measure in Maryland; Kluwe is also asking Minnesotans to vote no on our own marriage freedom restriction amendment.

But phobes have a tool of their own in Minnesota, and that blunt instrument is Bradlee Dean, who supposedly is good at connecting with the youth. Truth Wins Out's Wayne Besen writes in PFOX Promotes Hate Rocker Bradlee Dean’s Visit To Maryland Anti-Gay Rally:

Only two weeks after trying to unsuccessfully ban me from FOX News on the grounds that I am hateful, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) posted this on their blog:

Fwd: Ready to Rally? Help us make a difference for Marriage!

Please mark your calendars for the week of September 26-29. Protect Marriage Maryland and the Maryland Society of Patriots will be hosting a rally in 5 different counties to bring awareness to critical issues that will be on the ballot this November. Come out to hear Christian rockers & radios hosts, Bradlee Dean and Jake McMillan (the Sons of Liberty) to hear about the Constitution, our Christian Heritage, and how to bring the youth into the political process. . . .

Perhaps marriage equality advocates should cheer this development, since Mr. Bradlee isn't exactly packing the youth into concert halls these days. Michigan Live reported in Christian band tied to so-called anti-gay hate group to play concert in West Michigan:

A recent email blast to the Ottawa County Patriots’ mailing list included an eye-catching line.

Junkyard Prophet, a Christian metal band tied to the Annandale, Minn.-based You Can Run, But You Cannot Hide International ministry, would be coming to play a concert this weekend in West Michigan.

....Jim Chiodo, a local Tea Party organizer who worked to bring Junkyard Prophet to town, [believes] 1,000-plus area teens will turn out to see the band play and hear its controversial drummer, Bradlee Dean, give a presentation after the show.

“I will interject only one thing,” Chiodo said, jokingly, before deferring further comment on the event to You Can Run spokesman Jake MacAulay. “They better get there early.”

The free, three-hour event is slated for 5 p.m. Saturday at the West Ottawa Performing Arts Center, 1024 136th Ave.

By Chiodo’s estimation, demand for the show will far exceed the 1,000-person limit. Space will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

The $12,000 cost to bring Junkyard Prophet to West Michigan was largely raised through donations from private individuals and businesses in the Holland area.. . .

So how did that work out for them? Avidor's Bradlee Dean Info reports in Bradlee Dean's Concert in Holland, Michigan Was a Total Flop:

According to the Grand Rapids Press, sponsors (unnamed) put up $12,000 to bring Bradlee's hate group to play at the West Ottawa Performing Arts Center Saturday night. However, there was nothing in the news, blogs or social media about the concert. So was the concert a success or a flop?

Sunday came and went... crickets. Now it's late afternoon, Monday and we have the answer: Bradlee's concert was a flop.

This photo from the Bradlee Bunch's Facebook page tells the story - lots of empty seats . . .

And how many young people in that nearly empty auditorium? Obviously, the paunchy middle-aged, tracksuit preacher can't attract the kids as much as he claims. . . .

Let's hope he's as successful with his new friends in Maryland as he was in Michigan--or with the Minnesota State Legislature.

Photo: Bradlee Dean in Michigan, via Bradlee Dean Info.

Rochester Tea Party Patriots to First District citizens: our games are so much more special than you being represented in the House

For a group that borrows its name from "the destruction of the tea" in 1773, the Rochester Tea Party Patriots seem rather confused by the working details of the notion of "representation."

At the end of a Rochester Post Bulletin "Political Notebook" column by staff writer Heather Carlson, there's this:

Bills, Quist to court Tea Party voters

Two Republicans eager to bump off Democratic incumbents will speak to members of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots on Thursday night.

U.S. Senate candidate Kurt Bills and U.S. House candidate Allen Quist are scheduled to attend the group's meeting. Bills is running against Klobuchar, and Quist is challenging Walz. The group says it invited Klobuchar and Walz to attend.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Rochester's Ramada Hotel, 1517 16th St. S.W.

That's pretty much how it's billed in group's newsletter, which first was tweeted via a URL on September 2.

Over at the group's calendar, there's a slightly different story as the nature of the event seems to be evolving. It's not just a meeting any more, but a debate, on September 20:

The Rochester Tea Party Patriots is sponsoring a debate between political candidates Allen Quist and Tim Walz AND Kurt Bills and Amy Klobuchar THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 at the Ramada. Come early to register at 6:00 pm! Mingle with fellow Patriots and guests.

Public is welcome to attend.

And on the front page of the group's website?  A SPECIAL SESSION (though they are  a bit confused about the day):

Political Debate @ Ramada Thurs., Sept. 20th

We will have a SPECIAL SESSION on Thursday, September 14 @ 7:00 pm at the Ramada. Allen Quist, Tim Walz, Kurt Bills, and Amy Klobuchar will be on the docket to discuss what they plan to do for Minnesota if elected. Q&A will be part of the format. Currently, Quist and Bills have confirmed to attend.

Registration will begin at 6:00 pm. Come early to reserve a good seat and allow time to mingle

So what's the problem? On September 20, Congressman Walz will be in Washington D.C., doing the job he was elected to do: representing the citizens of Minnesota's First Congressional District while the House is in session.

At the top of this entry, Bluestem has posted a jpg of September's calendar from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's webpage. No votes are scheduled for today and tomorrow since it's Rosh Hashanah. But the House takes up its business again on late Wednesday through Friday.

The expectation that Walz will be in Washington is that "representation" thing that the original Tea Party was all about. But it looks like these folks are more interested in turning this into some partisan "gotcha" style politics than bothering to check the House's calendar.

Or maybe they did know about the calendar and plan some bogus "empty chair" theatrics for Quist? That would be a "SPECIAL SESSION."

Whatever the case, the group is undermining whatever claims it has to act as a sponsor of debates. Walz and Quist will meet for debates held by the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce on September 27 at the Somerby Golf course in Byron at 11:30 a.m., and a Debate Minnesota forum at Mankato State University in October. They will also participate in a televised debate.

These are genuine non-partisan events. The Rochester Tea Party Patriots? They're so SPECIAL that their ambush event is more important than the people's business.

Looks like they're after vexation without representation.

Photos: Screenshot of Cantor's calendar and the Rochester Tea Party Patriot's post.

Sept 19 Winona State U Library Athenaeum on frac sand resources in Southeastern Minnesota

Winona State's library news blog carries nes about about a 09/19 - Athenaeum - Frac Sand Resources in Southeastern Minnesota by Toby Dogwiler & Candace Kairies Beaty:

Join us this Wednesday, September 19 at 1:00pm for our Athenaeum on Frac Sand Resources in Southeastern Minnesota. Presented by Candace Kairies Beatty and Toby Dogwiler.

Southeastern Minnesota has some of the best frac sand deposits in the United States. Proposals to mine these valuable resources have spurred controversy and concern in a number of counties in southeastern Minnesota, as well as, in adjacent portions of Wisconsin.

They will discuss the geology and distribution of frac sand resources in southeastern Minnesota, with an emphasis on Winona County. Specifically, we will describe the geologic history of the sands, the landscapes in which they occur, and their relation to adjacent natural resources. A brief overview will also be provided of the role that Minnesota frac sands play in the hydraulic fracturing processes being used to extract gas across the U.S.

The Library Athenaeum is located on the second floor of the Krueger Library, on the Minnesota bluff side. 

Candace Kairies Beatty, Assistant Professor, Geoscience Toby Dogwiler, Professor, Geoscience, Director of Southeastern Minnesota Water Resource.

Across the river, Buffalo County blogger Mikey O'Connor at the Frac Sand Frisbie provides some Testimony opposing the “Seven Sands” frac sand mine to the local county commissioners. Go read the six substantial problems O'Connor points out.

Photo: Aerial view of a Wisconsin frac sand mine.  Photo by Jim Tittle.

Minnesota EQB to hear business community testimony on frac sand mining Wed. Sept. 19

The Minnesota Environmental Quality Board has posted the proposed agenda for its Wed., September 19, 1:00-4:00 p.m. meeting in the MPCA  Board  Room, 520 Lafayette Road, St. Paul. According to the document packet, which includes letters and emails supporting a statewide Generic Environmental Impact Study (GEIS) of the industrial sand industry, representatives of the business community will testify on Wednesday.

Last month, the EBQ took testimony from citizens and grassroots groups seeking the GEIS, as well a local government officials whose cities and counties had received frac sand mining proposals. Citizens and their communities are concerned about the potentially adverse health, economic and environmental consequences of industrial-scale mining Minnesota's rich deposits of silica sand for petroleum and natural gas "fracking."

Minnesota has no oil or gas shale; the sand is mined in open pits, dry or wet processed, then hauled by train or barge to oil or gas fields in other states.

The annotated agenda notes:

At its August meeting, the EQB heard testimony in support of ordering a GEIS. The Board also heard from invited local officials about local government experiences with and responses to frac sand mining operations and proposals, and heard about the Minnesota Mississippi River Parkway Commission and the Minnesota Great River Road. There was no testimony from the business community. Consequently, EQB staff sought additional testimony. Representatives of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, several local Chambers of Commerce, and the industrial sand industry are expected to address the Board.

EQB staff has continued to receive correspondence pertaining to the issue, which is included in the packet. Additionally, a phone call was received from Victoria Jaskierski from Wabasha, who expressed support for a GEIS.

Bluestem thinks that the business community responses should prove fascinating. Will those addressing the board be reading from a unified playbook? Or will industry and the state Chamber of Commerce perspectives vary from local chambers--and if so, what will the differences be?

In August, Wisconsin Public Radio reported that the more established, larger frac sand mining companies formed an industry education/lobbying group, Wisconsin Industrial Sand Association (WISA). Rick Bremer wrote:

Rich Budinger of Fairmount Minerals is WISA’s President. He says, “We’re going to be looking for as many members that are willing and able to adhere to the strict code of conduct that’s in place, a requirement of membership, as possible. The goal of the association is to set a gold standard for safe and environmentally responsible sand mining operations in the state of Wisconsin.”

Industrial sand mining and frac sand mining in particular can be unpopular in towns where new mines spring up. Budinger says part of WISA’s charge will be to educate the public about an industry that has been in Wisconsin for more than a century, but has grown in recent years.

Anti-frac sand activist Pat Popple of Chippewa Falls does not see it that way. “Sounds like another spin to me.” She says the Wisconsin Industrial Sand Mining Association will likely be more of a lobbying firm. “There probably will be a push to make it sound good, but making it sound good does not always mean it’s going to be good.”

The Milwaukee Business Journal reported in Sand mining firms form Wisconsin association:

The Wisconsin Industrial Sand Association, based in Eau Claire, was established by Badger Mining Corp. of Berlin, Wis.; U.S. Silica of Frederick, Md.; Unimin Corp. of New Canaan, Conn.; and Fairmount Minerals of Chardon, Ohio.

In Superior Silica ready to join self-regulation group, the Chippewa Valley News reported that a fifth, Texas-based company was seeking to enlist in that Mordorian brigade. The paper also reported:

. . . an announcement this week that sand found in North Dakota, a state booming from oil production, may be good enough to be used as frac sand.

Uniminn operates large silica sand mines near Ottawa and Kasota in the middle Minnesota River Valley's LeSueur County.

The EQB proposed agenda packet includes PDFs of a letter supporting a GEIS from retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Watershed Biologist Arthur Hawkins, Jr and an email from Florence Township Planning Commissioner and Chair of Save-The-Bluffs Citizen's Group Jody McIlrath. McIlrath writes:

It is imperative for the health, welfare and safety of our citizens and communities for your agencies to take the time for an in depth study of all the issues concerning Health, Air Quality, Water Quality and Quantity, Road and Traffic issues, and Socio- Economic impacts.

As you are aware, our good neighbors in Wisconsin were deluged with sand mines over the last three years with little to no support from their state agencies and now are suffering the consequences of the frac sand boom.

The City of Winona and Goodhue County have submitted resolutions of support for the GEIS. The City of Wabasha had voted to support a GEIS as well, according to an email submitted by Wabasha County.

The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities (CGMC) submitted a two-page letter outlining the reasons why it supports the proposed GEIS. More than seventy-five rural cities are members of CGMC. 

Stay tuned.

Photo: Clearing the site of a frac sand mine in Wisconsin.

Goodhue & Hubbard county officials share info about photo ID amendment with voters

Election officials in Goodhue and Hubbard Counties share their concerns about the passage of the photo ID amendment in the Red Wing Republican Eagle and the Park Rapids Enterprise. Elsewhere, Firedoglake and Rick Hasen's Election Law Blog (via FDL) have picked up on Gustavus professor Max Hailperin's post, Center of the American Experiment's claims for photo ID cost savings are deeply flawed.

Southeast Minnesota: Goodhue County

In the Red Wing Republican Eagle, Goodhue County finance director Carolyn Holmsten and finance controller Amy Hove write in Understand the amendment regarding voter ID:

Election Day, Nov. 6, 2012, is fast approaching. The national conventions are over, the newspapers and radio stations are inundated with campaign ads, yard signs are popping up, and your mail box is getting full.

You will be asked to vote on a number of different topics this year, one of which is whether or not the Minnesota Constitution should be amended to require voters to present photo identification. Since the language that would be added to our state Constitution is more extensive than the amendment question, we thought it would be helpful to outline the question for you in more detail.

The following is the question that will appear on your ballot:

“Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to require all voters to present valid photo identification to vote and to require the state to provide free identification to eligible voters, effective July 1, 2013?”

If passed, the Minnesota Constitution would be amended as follows:

• All voters voting in person must present valid government-issued photographic identification before receiving a ballot. The state must issue photographic identification at no charge to an eligible voter who does not have a form of identification meeting the requirements of this section. A voter unable to present government-issued photographic identification must be permitted to submit a provisional ballot. A provisional ballot must only be counted if the voter certifies the provisional ballot in the manner provided by law.

• All voters, including those not voting in person, must be subject to substantially equivalent identity and eligibility verification prior to a ballot being cast or counted.

To fully understand what this means for voters, we will break this language into four sections. . . .

Read their explication at the Red Wing Republican Eagle. These are substantial changes and concerns. The women do not take a position onf the amendment:

As county election officials it is not our role to take a formal position on any question. It is our responsibility to administer elections in compliance with all applicable laws as well as help educate voters.

We hope we have provided you with some good information and encourage you to continue your research. Additional materials on this topic can be found on our county website at www.co.goodhue.mn.us.

We urge everyone to take time in the next 55 days to become more familiar with all of the candidates and questions that will appear on your ballot. Remember to vote Nov. 6!.

North Central Minnesota: Hubbard County

Hubbard County Auditor-Treasurer Pam Heeren, on the othher hand, focuses on cost. In the Park Rapid Enterprise, staff writer sarah Smith reports in Voter ID law could cost Hubbard County:

Minnesota’s proposed Voter ID law, which recent polls suggest could pass handily, will have unintended consequences and unanticipated costs for Hubbard County.

“I think they’re going to be astonished at what this could cost us,” Auditor-Treasurer Pam Heeren said, admitting, “there’s so many unknowns it’s hard for us to put a price on it.”

But the cost will not only entail dollars spent on elections but for delays in vote tabulation with possible challenges (think of an interminable Franken-Coleman court battle) and a possible decline in the number of citizens willing to serve as election judges.

In a county predominantly populated by senior citizens, those against the amendment say some voters could be disenfranchised if someone no longer drives or has the paperwork to get a government issued ID card.

Heeren takes no official position on the amendment, but agreed it has a good chance of passing, from information she’s heard....

Heeren worries about the costs of provisional ballots and electronic poll books, and the toll on election judges. Smith reports:

And in a county where it’s been difficult to recruit election judges, Heeren worries the new law, if passed, could dampen enthusiasm for working elections.

Election judges nowadays are predominantly senior citizens. Will they embrace new tabulating technology and procedures to verify the credentials of those who want to vote?

Should the additional responsibilities be thrust upon them?

So far, Hubbard County has been an easy, cordial place to vote. In a county where everyone knows almost everyone else, the voucher system works well.

“Now they’re saying it won’t affect mail balloting, they’re saying with the rules right now mail balloting would have to be abolished because you can’t verify the identity, so there’s so many unknowns at this point it’s hard to say,” she said.

What percent of the vote that could disenfranchise is unknown.

Her conclusion:

Heeren said auditors don’t stay up nights worrying about the new law especially as they prepare for the 2012 general elections.

“But I do think it’s going to surprise us, how expensive it’s going to get, depending on some of the requirements,” she said in a warning to Hubbard County residents

Hailperin analysis gains traction

Over at Firedoglake, Phoenix Woman writes in Come Saturday Morning: Minnesota Republicans Panicking as More County Clerks Compare Notes on Horrific Costs and Hassles of Photo ID Amendment:

Word is starting to get around in Minnesota, both from outside and inside the state, of the horrific costs and problems faced by local governments whose states enact the various ALEC-inspired “Voter ID” photo ID legislative disasters . . .

. . .But when the fact that it stands to ruin the budgets of dozens of Minnesota counties gets publicly aired by a growing number of local media outlets, that’s when the Republicans get worried.

How worried are they? They turned to some of the more respectable attack dogs in their kennels, the folks running the Center of the American Experiment, to try and soothe county governments’ fears on the costs of the proposed amendment. Unfortunately for them, the CAE’s math is on a par with Paul Ryan’s in terms of worthlessness, as Max Hailperin points out in a guest post at greater Minnesota blog Bluestem Prairie: . . .

The title is a bit off by lumping together county auditors with county clerks, but close enough. The FDL post in its turn has been picked up by Rick Hasen's Election Law blog.

Photo: White Oak Township Hall, Hubbard County, via Waymarking.

New Ulm Journal's Josh Moniz may not get invited to all MNGOP fundraisers, but still records Senate Majority's Senjem misleading

If Bluestem reads recent issues of the New Ulm Journal correctly, staff writer Josh Moniz wasn't been invited to cover the latest GOP fundraiser since his Youtube of Mike Parry's speech calling Mark Dayton a scary pill popper at party event blew up Parry's congressional bid.

But Moniz is still able to let Senjem speak for himself and his caucus in Senjem stumps for Dahms, Torkelson. Where do we begin? The low-hanging fruit of course:

Minnesota Senate Majority Leader David Senjem (R-Rochester) was the guest speaker Thursday for a private fundraiser in New Ulm for the campaigns of Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) and Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls), who organized the event.

Senjem, who spoke to The Journal before the event, praised Dahms and Torkelson as hardworking lawmakers who did a significant amount of good work the last two years. He said that he felt it was appropriate to attribute any state revenue surplus in 2013 to work completed by the Republican majority.

"We need these kind of people in the state Legislature," said Senjem, "They've been rock solid in the [Minnesota House of Representatives] and the Senate."

About that surplus? MPR's Catherine Richert reports in PoliGraph: GOP flier's claims leave out context notes:

In February of 2012, the state announced that it had an additional $323 million on hand.
Tally that up, and it's roughly $1.3 billion.

But here's the rub: the money was already spoken for. According to state law, the money must be used to restore the state's cash-flow account, pad its budget reserves and then start paying back money the state borrowed from schools to balance the budget.

In fact, the state is projected to have a $1.1 billion deficit for the coming biennium, according to the budget agency's most recent projection. That forecast doesn't include the $2.4 billion the state still owes schools or inflation.

So not only is the any surplus spoken for now, a $1.1 billion deficit is projected by 2014. Will Senjem and his caucus take credit for that? Earlier this week, Bluestem caught Mike Parry telling whoppers about the "surplus," so Commissioner Schowalter's dour words from February are still fresh:

Schowalter said the new forecast projects a $1.1 billion deficit by fiscal year 2014. That's a little better than the $1.3 billion projected in the last forecast, but he said it still presents big challenges.

"We were able to balance this year's budget, if you'll recall, with sizeable one-time resources from the tobacco bonds, from the school shift. Those aren't there in 2014-15, but the obligations and the continued programming is," said Schowalter. "So as a result, we have a structural balance that we're going to have to resolve."

So sure, carry on about a hypothetical surplus in 2013. The big one's still coming in the second half of the biennum. 

Then he said that the GOP Senate Caucus doesn't have a targeted campaign plan yet:

Senjem said it was too early to state which legislative races would be targeted because the Republicans had just wrapped up polling. He declined to provide any details about the polling, but he said he was now very optimistic that the Republicans would retain or even grow their majority in the Senate.

So the payroll to a staffer with a Winona address, rent payments in Alexandria, St. Cloud and Willmar  on the Senate Victory Fund, the MNGOP senate caucus campaign committee are simply random? Good one.

And that attack mail in Senate District 24? Also random, apparently.

And then there's this:

He also reflected on the myriad of scandals that had dogged the Republican-controlled Minnesota Legislature the last two years. Senjem took over in the wake of the Amy Koch-Michael Brodkorb scandal. He was recently fined along with other Republicans for using state facilities for campaign work.

Senjem said he was limited in what he could speak about due to the ongoing Brodkorb lawsuit. He said that he primarily learned how easily anybody could be the victim of the lawsuit and how challenging it is to have to prove yourself innocent.

Poor Dave!

Photo: At least Dave got a few rounds off at a zombie eradication shoot fundraiser for Republicans. And no, that's not an assault rifle; it's a shotgun. Twitter picture by Mike Parry.

Tony Cornish's niece & her spouse come out as marriage amendment opponents in new video

Southern Minnesota's Blue Earth County (where Bluestem's editor and  proprietor was born) is Minnesota's Mayberry Modern, marked by small towns, punctuated by the metropolitan center of Mankato, and held together for many by extensive family ties.

Take Former Governor Jesse Ventura's wife Terry, a Mankato native spent a lot of time on her grandparents' farm near Vernon Center:

She is one in a line of salt-of-the-earth women with a tough work ethic, a pioneering spirit and strong family values. At 4, the Mankato, Minn., native moved to the Twin Cities with her family. Her mother worked nights as she raised four children. Her grandmother cooked meals for hungry workers on the family's farm in Vernon Center, Minn.

It was there young Terry was smitten with horses and the countryside."I loved the hard work," Ventura says. "We cooked tons of chickens and cakes in my grandparents' kitchen and baled hay until our arms were all ripped up. I remember getting in the shower ... with my arms stinging. And I would think, work is not an evil thing."

And her uncle? State representative Tony Cornish, according to his entry in the Minnesota Legislators Past and Present page.

Minnesotans United for All Families is leading a statewide discussion of the meaning of families and love. Terry Ventura and her husband talk about what love and marriage mean to them in the latest MUAF's video:

Bluestem doubts that the video will much change Representative Cornish's views about the ballot measure. But perhaps when other Southern Minnesotans hear this down-home woman and her spouse talk about marriage freedom, they'll think about how important love and family are for all people, and Vote No to enshrining discrimination into the state constitution.

Transcript via City Pages:

Jesse: Government should not be telling people who to fall in love with. Government should not be telling people who to cohabit with, or anything of that nature. We're supposed to be home of the brave, land of the free. We've been married now, believe it or not, 37 years. The happiness we've had I would wish for everybody to have.

Terry: Marriage is about when people fall in love and decide to make a commitment in front of their friends and their family and it means something. How in the world can two people professing how much they love and care for each other and that they want to be with each other forever, how can that be bad? No matter who you are.

Jesse: This is not a Democrat issue, this is not a Republican issue, this is not a liberal issue, it's not a conservative issue which means it affects each and every one of us, regardless of whatever our political persuasion is.

Terry: What if one day someone decided to take what's really important to you and put it on a bill and try to get it to change our constitution so you could never even have a chance to get it back? If you look at it in that context, how important is it to you? If you don't stand up for their rights, you'll lose some of your rights too.

Jesse: The constitution shouldn't be used to oppress people, the constitution is used to protect people. Love is by far bigger than government can ever be. We are the state of Minnesota, we make our own decisions and we know what good values are in Minnesota, and good values are to keep people free. We should defeat this and vote no to show the rest of the U.S. that nobody influences Minnesotans on what's right and whats wrong.

Photo: Terry Ventura, a down-home Blue Earth County native, is Representative Tony Cornish's niece. Photograph by Mary Ellen Mark Photography via Mirabella.

Center of the American Experiment's claims for photo ID cost savings are deeply flawed

Guest post by Max Hailperin

The Center of the American Experiment recently released a report, "The Costs and Benefits of Minnesota's Proposed Photo ID Constitutional Amendment," authored by Peter J. Nelson, John R. LaPlante, and Kent Kaiser. 

This report downplays the financial costs of the proposed amendment, but its most provocative claim is that "substantial cost savings accrue when photo ID is coupled with electronic poll book technology."  Specifically, in return for an estimated initial investment of $5 million, a cost savings of approximately $1 million per general election could be realized.  

Both of these estimates have substantial problems, but even if we accept the numbers, the idea that the proposed amendment could be a net win from a financial standpoint falters on two fundamental problems.  First, the projected savings would be possible even without a photo ID requirement.  Second, the initial investment is in fact a recurring cost that would be necessary each time the laptop computers reached the end of their useful lives.

The report correctly describes an electronic poll book as "a computer program that replaces the printouts of voter registration information that people are used to seeing on Election Day." Tellingly, the report admits that "their costs and benefits stand or fall on their own merit; 27 states, including many that do not have a photo ID requirement, use them to sign in voters, update voter history, and look up polling places."  In states with Election Day registration, the electronic poll books can also serve this function, as for example with the "Precinct Atlas" system developed in Cerro Gordo County and used in many other Iowa counties.

It is logically fallacious to attribute any potential cost saving to the passage of the proposed amendment; the same cost saving could be achieved without it.  In particular, the bulk of the cost savings shown in the report stem from two areas: the elimination of post-election data entry and a reduction in the number of election judges needed.

Consider a jurisdiction such as Iowa's Cerro Gordo County where electronic poll books are used without a photo ID requirement. The vast majority of voters come with Iowa drivers' licenses in hand. They stick the back side of their card under a laser scanner which obtains their name and address from the PDF417 barcode.  Assuming they are pre-registered and have not changed name or address, their registration information pops up on the pollworker's laptop. Seconds later they are checked in and ready to vote.  Moreover, the county updates the voter's history record without any manual data entry after the election. (This contrasts with current Minnesota practice, in which a barcode next to the voter's signature needs to be scanned after the election.)  Likewise, if the voter needs to register or change address, the computer prints out a form that is already mostly filled in.  In this particular system, that form later gets manually entered, but an alternative design would allow the data to be directly captured. 

Every once in a while a voter shows up without a state ID card. When that happens, the pollworker types in the first few letters of the voter's name, picks the correct entry from a short list, and asks the voter to confirm their address. This takes a bit longer than scanning a card, but still is quicker than flipping through printouts and only happens a small faction of the time.  As a result, the overall savings in labor within the polling place is essentially the same as it would be if every voter were required to have the state ID.  And no matter which way the pollworker checks in a voter, the voting history is updated without any post-election data entry.  So this cost saving is not an argument at all for passing the proposed amendment.

Moreover, any cost savings from an electronic poll book needs to be traded off against the ongoing costs of that system, rather than only against a one-time "initial investment."  The Center of the American Experiment's report assumes laptop computers that will last forever.  Those computers would be bought once for $5 million and then used forever after, reaping a payback of $1 million per general election, or in other words, every two years.  Large organizations that use laptop computers, such as the Internal Revenue Service, typically assume they have a useful life of 3 years.  Although some organizations stretch their replacement cycle to 5 years, the extra repair costs in years 4 and 5 are high enough to make this a bad idea.  

On this basis, the Center's numbers show electronic poll books to be a losing proposition; at best, once cost savings from non-general elections are included, the tradeoff becomes a close call.  If the report's claim of substantial ongoing cost savings from a single initial investment sounds too good to be true, that's because it is.

Professor Max Hailperin, of Gustavus Adolphus College, has examined new technologies in voting nationwide. His written testimony was included in hearings on HF 210, Mary Kiffmeyer's photo ID (and much more) bill that was vetoed last year by Governor Dayton.

Photo: A same-day registration card in Cerro Gordo County, IA. Via Ames Tribune's Cerro Gordo County makes its own voter ID alternative. 

MN counties drought-affected now covered by USDA disaster declaration; MN Daily highlights Walz-Quist Farm Bill fracas in MNCD1 story

Farm Bill politics again made news today in Greater Minnesota. The Park Rapids Enterprise reports that drought-stricken counties across the state are now covered by a USDA disaster declaration, while the MNDaily checked out the Walz-Quist race in the the first of an eight-part series profiling the 2012 Minnesota congressional races.

In Klobuchar, Franken, Peterson, Walz announce USDA disaster declaration for Minnesota counties affected by ongoing drought, the Park Enterprise reports:

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and Representatives Collin Peterson and Tim Walz today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a disaster declaration for counties in Minnesota affected by the ongoing drought. This declaration means that farmers in these counties are now eligible for emergency loan assistance from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to help cover crop or livestock losses. . . .

“This important action by the USDA will work to give farmers and ranchers peace of mind during these difficult times,” said Walz. “What rural America needs now is certainty. House leadership should follow USDA’s lead and bring the bipartisan five-year Farm Bill forward for a vote. I will continue working with my colleagues in the House to push leadership to make this happen. Minnesota’s farmers and ranchers can’t wait.”

The declaration designates Becker, Beltrami, Blue Earth, Brown, Clay, Cottonwood, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Jackson, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Martin, Mower, Murray, Norman, Pennington, Pipestone, Polk, Red Lake and Watonwan counties as a primary disaster area. Cass, Clearwater, Dodge, Hubbard, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, Nicollet, Nobles, Olmsted, Otter Tail, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Roseau, Steele, Wadena, Waseca, Wilkin and Winona counties have been designated contiguous disaster counties.

Primary disaster area counties Blue Earth, Brown, part of Cottonwood, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Jackson, Martin, Mower, and Watonwan Counties are in MNCD1, as are contiguous disaster counties Dodge, Le Sueur, Nicollet, Nobles, Olmsted, Rock, Steele, Waseca and Winona Counties. Only Rice County (partially in the new district) has not been afflicted by the ongoing drought.

MNDaily student journalist Bryna Godar captures the Minnesota Mayberry nature of the First in Quist, Walz battle for small-town Minnesota. She leads with observations by Bluestem 2010 contributor Thomas Trehus:

Spring Grove native Thomas Trehus describes southern Minnesota as a region with a “strong sense of community.”

“There are tons of small towns — everyone knows each other, and everyone feels connected to one another,” said Trehus, a political science senior at the University of Minnesota.

Although Trehus lives in Minneapolis during the school year, he’s planning on voting absentee in his hometown and Congressional District 1. . . .

The issues? The Farm Bill takes center stage:

In the largely agricultural region of the first district, the farm bill has surfaced as an important campaign issue.

Quist, who runs an 800-acre farm of corn and soybeans, is pushing for renegotiation of the farm bill, largely due to the high inclusion of food stamps.

Walz, however, is pushing for the bill’s passage.

“The time to get it done is now,” he said.

Although Walz doesn’t agree with every aspect of the bill, he emphasized the need for compromise and the farmers’ desire for certainty.

“The farm groups are all saying they need the farm bill passed,” Kunkel said. . . .

The Hill reports that a Farm bill discharge petition has been filed by Iowa Democrat Bruce Braley:

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) filed a discharge petition on the 2012 farm bill on Thursday after procedural hurdles were overcome.

If a majority of the House signs onto the petition, leaders will be forced to hold an immediate vote on the stalled bipartisan measure. . . .

Braley said Boehner was playing games.

“Games are being played in Washington, as Speaker Boehner is using all the moves in the procedural playbook to keep the farm bill off the House Floor. He has decided to personally overrule the bipartisan majority of the House Agriculture Committee by keeping the bill bottled up,” he said.

“Now, Speaker Boehner is preventing the reporting of the bill, over the objection of 35 Agriculture Committee Members who voted to report, and it’s been 64 days. Speaker Boehner needs to end the games, and allow the Congress to do its job by voting on the bill,” Braley added. . . .

Stay tuned.

Images: Minnesota drought monitor (via DNR); Thomas Trehus staffing the Houston County DFL booth at the Houston County Fair in 2008.

Voter restriction opponents continue to make their case in Greater Minnesota newspapers

More op-ed pieces and letters to the editor opposing the photo ID voter restriction amendment continue to appear on the op-ed pages of Greater Minnesota newspapers.

In yesterday's Grand Fork Herald,  Cynthia Moothart, policy director for the Minneapolis-based League of Rural Voters writes in Don’t make military voters run obstacle course:

A national group dedicated to preserving the voting rights of military personnel recently praised Minnesota for its leadership, designating the state an all-star as part of its Heroes Vote Initiative.

Such recognition represents a dramatic reversal in a long and disturbing trend that distinguishes Minnesota from the vast majority of states today. It also makes good on a campaign promise by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, whose office coordinates elections and voting.

Before 2006, Minnesota ranked near the bottom of all states in its number of military voters, despite leading the nation in overall turnout for 30-plus years.

The proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot threatens to undo these gains — and take away the right of democracy’s defenders serving abroad from taking part in elections at home.

Minnesota is home to roughly 20,000 active-duty soldiers and guardsmen — and more than 390,000 veterans, many of who are elderly or otherwise would fall in meeting its requirements.

Unlike other states with such laws, the Minnesota proposal provides no exemptions for military personnel and their families. The same criteria for proving identity and residency would apply to troops serving elsewhere as those walking into their neighborhood precinct on Election Day. That includes the need for an up-to-date state-issued photo ID with current address.

Nearly one-third of all service personnel, according to U.S. Census data, move on a yearly basis, a rate three times higher than the general population. And often, troops and their families are uprooted on a moment’s notice.

A new report titled "Military voting update: A bleak picture in 2012" outlines the herculean effort by Ritchie to overcome significant structural barriers in defending the military vote, despite a federal law enacted in 2009 that so far has failed to ease his way.

The report, published by the Military Voter Protection Project and AMVETS Legal Clinic at Chapman University, concludes, “For too long, our men and women in uniform have been silenced in the electoral process.” (The full report is available at www.GreaterMNCounts.org.)

Now is not the time for Minnesotans to turn a deaf ear. . . .

Move toward the middle of the state. In Tuesday's West Central Tribune, Jerry Tedrow of New London writes to the editors in his letter, Voter ID could be a disaster:

After having read a recent op-ed relating to the photo ID constitutional amendment, wherein the writer challenged it because of the number of moves and address changes he would have made had the law been in effect, got me to thinking of what I’d have gone through had I been confronted with it. I did a personal historical review.

From my 21st birthday until the day I settled into my present address, a period of 20 years, I discovered that as a result of being in college, the military, working summers, going to summer schools and working at my career, I had made 41 changes in living arrangements, residing in 23 different abodes.

During that time period, 10 various elections took place, and I lived at 10 different addresses. Had the law been in effect, I would have been forced to take time off, make the drive to a county seat, and get a new ID with my most recent photo and address. My driver’s license signifying I was a legal Minnesota resident wouldn’t have been good enough.

I know I’m not the only person who would have faced this dilemma. All we have to do is look at the thousands of transients (workers and students) who might get fed up and say to forget it, it’s too much of an inconvenience to jump through that hoop seemingly with every election. I might have thought to do so.

The inconvenience I could live with, but the cost would be another thing. How much? We really don’t know, but estimates go as high as $50 million, and this money has to come from some form of taxable revenue. It ain’t gonna be free, as it’s being touted by the proponents of the amendment.

Please, think this issue through. The results of its passage could be catastrophic for us for a long time, and would be almost impossible to retract at a later date.

That cost is subject to debate. On Minnesota Public Radio, Tim Pugmire reports in Voter ID implementation costs in dispute:

If Minnesotans approve a proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to present identification at the polls, many government officials say it will come with a multi-million dollar price tag that will ultimately fall to taxpayers. . . .

A Minneapolis-based advocacy group that opposes voter ID suggests even higher costs. The group Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota estimates combined state and local costs of from $36 million to $78 million.

But another new report downplays the financial effect of voter ID and suggests possible long-term savings. The different assessments reflect deep disagreement between amendment supporters and opponents about every aspect of the proposed requirement.

One argument is that with card readers, fewer election judges would be needed to match voters with their ID cards. Pugmire reports:

The author of a competing study for a pro-amendment organization rejects those numbers. Peter Nelson, director of public policy at the Center of the American Experiment, said he thinks Bonnifield's analysis misinterprets the amendment language and overstates the number of voters who would need provisional ballots.

Nelson contends Minnesota could save money over time because a streamlined system for registration and identification would require fewer election judges. He said counties would also save money if there is less voter fraud to investigate and prosecute.

Still, Nelson said his estimates might not hold up once lawmakers begin crafting the enabling legislation needed to put the voter ID requirement in place.

Gustavus Adolphus math professor Max Hailperin posted the MPR article to his Facebook page, along with an intriguing remark:

Nelson's suggestion of a net savings "because a streamlined system for registration and identification would require fewer election judges" is bogus because the same streamlined system could be put into place without the mandate of photo ID or the substantially equivalent identity and eligibility verification.

I observed an election in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, in which those voters who had Drivers Licenses -- the vast majority -- simply stuck the back side of their card under a laser scanner and were all set to go, without the election judge needing to inquire after their name and address and manually look them up.

Likewise, anyone doing Election Day Registration who had a card got the registration form filled out just by scanning the card. But those few without the card were processed too, just more slowly. And nobody looked at the photos on the front of the pre-registered voters' cards.

(The same system is also used in other Iowa counties; similar systems have been deployed elsewhere. Electronic pollbooks do not require mandatory photo ID or any other restrictions.)

It's a very strong point. We could implement the technology without the voter suppression.

Hailperin, who writes that he has looked into "electronic poll books around the nation while lobbying regarding that portion of HF210/SF509 (the bill most people thought of as a photo ID bill -- but 20 of its 60 pages were devoted to electronic poll books)" has accepted a request to write a guest post for Bluestem elaborating on this comment. Look for it soon.

Photo: Military absentee voting, via Military.com News.

Fact check: MNGOP Rally fundraising page misleads about Reagan-era tax policy and jobs

Yesterday, in Minnesota GOP uses 9-11 message (& much, much more) on Rally fundraising page, Bluestem introduced readers to the cheap thrill of reading the Republican Party of Minnesota's Rally social fundraising page.

Cheap as in low-cost and not really raising much coin.

Today's entry trashes a statement Governor Dayton made yesterday at the Humphrey Institute:

Can you believe that? Governor Dayton actually said our “unwillingness to pay (more) taxes...is going to be the death of this country [if] it's not corrected."

This statement couldn’t be more bizarre or plain wrong. In fact, the exact opposite is true: our country and others have prospered the most when the people have experienced more freedom and less government overreach into their lives.

One only has to look to the Reagan years, where a bipartisan Congressional majorities cut taxes, reduced job killing regulations, and gave the American people more freedom.

Because of those actions, our country thrived.

Pity the poor pachederms. Last February 2011, Polifact checked out those golden memories of the Reagan era. Here's what the site kept by the St. Petersburg Times found in Judging Reagan's legacy: The Gipper meets the Truth-O-Meter:

Ronald Reagan left the White House more than two decades ago, but he remains a giant -- and sometimes polarizing -- figure in American politics. In honor of the recent centennial of Reagan’s birth, we’ve collected a dozen fact-checks we’ve published over the last three years that judge the late president and his legacy.

Findings related to today's MNGOP fundraising appeal:

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.: After Reagan took office, "we didn't raise taxes and we didn't cut entitlements. What we did was we cut taxes."

We found that Reagan signed two major tax increases in 1982 that took back much of the break he'd provided in his 1981 tax bill. After a Social Security tax increase in 1983, Reagan approved further tax increases — in one form or another — in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987. On the other hand, taxes as a share of GDP continued to decline until 1984, when they bottomed out at 18.4 percent, before rising back to 19.2 percent by the time Reagan left office in 1989. That rate was lower than during Reagan's first year in the White House. On balance, we rated the statement Barely True.

After Ronald Reagan cut taxes in 1981 the U.S. enjoyed "exponential growth."

Ruling: Mostly False | Details

From those details:

. . .Loughlin is echoing a popular Republican theme: If you want to grow the economy, cut taxes. The favorite example is Reagan, who was a big proponent of cutting taxes and reducing government spending. In his ad, Loughlin's unstated implication is that Reagan cut taxes and the economy grew explosively as a result.

But is it really that simple?

First, Reagan alone didn't cut taxes. He did it in conjunction with Congress. Having said that, let's look at the Reagan era of taxation.

There's no debate that Reagan dramatically reduced taxes in 1981, his first year in office. That $38-billion cut would equal $90 billion in today's dollars. At the time, it represented 1.91 percent of the gross domestic product, which is the total value of goods and services produced in the United States during a given year.

But the following year, Reagan raised taxes dramatically and other increases followed.

The 1982 hike alone, which applied to corporations and individuals, increased taxes by about $17 billion, according to a 2006 U.S. Treasury report. The increase represented 0.8 percent of the GDP. That's why it is sometimes billed as the largest peacetime tax increase in American history. That same year he also raised the gasoline tax.

In 1983, Reagan hiked taxes again. This time it was the passage of the Social Security Reform Act of 1983, which increased payroll taxes to provide long-term funding for Medicare and Social Security. According to liberal economist Paul Krugman, in a June 8, 2004, commentary in The New York Times, "this tax increase more than undid any gains from Mr. Reagan's income tax cuts" for many middle- and low-income families.

Reagan also significantly increased taxes through the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, the Tax Reform of 1986 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987. . . .

And  job  growth following that tax cut?

The other question is, did the original tax cut spark "exponential growth," as Loughlin contended.

Taken literally, "exponential" refers to growth at an ever-increasing rate, as when something doubles, then triples, then quadruples. The economy during the Reagan years did no such thing.

When we talked to Loughlin about that part of his statement, he said: "We experienced additional growth after Ronald Reagan cut taxes and that might be a bit of hyperbole to say 'exponentially.'"

In fact, immediately after the 1981 cuts, the country went into a recession. The GDP dropped by nearly 2 percent. The unemployment rate jumped more than two full percentage points, spiking to 9.7 percent.

Then things got better. The GDP rose 4.5 percent in 1983 and 7.2 percent in 1984. Those are substantial jumps. The increases returned to a fairly typical 3 percent and 4 percent during the rest of his tenure. Unemployment barely declined in 1983, but then began a steady fall to 5.3 percent in 1989, when Reagan left office.

And there's this:

During the Reagan era, while productivity increased, "wages for working people remained frozen."  
Michael Moore, Friday, October 2nd, 2009.
Ruling: Mostly True | Details

So things got better during the Reagan era, sorta, but "tax cuts" as most people would understand them so did not happen. And job growth?  Not as rosy as Shortage and company remember.

Photo: The ghost of Republican memories.

Related posts: In the fight for the right for bragging rights to the right, is Mike Parry or Allen Quist right?

Luverne: Rock County Star Herald mines consequences of photo ID amendment

A friend in Rock County sent links to two pieces about the voter suppression amendment published in the latest Luverne's Rock County Star Herald.  The first is an in-depth feature about the cost of implement the amendment should it pass, while the second is an editorial suggesting that requiring photo ID is an expensive solution looking for a problem.

In Vote yes or no? Voters encouraged to weigh cost of state voter ID amendment, Star Herald editor Lori Ehde explores the issue:

Participants in the 2012 general election will be asked to answer a ballot question about changing Minnesota’s voting process.

The question is, "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to require all voters to present valid photo identification to vote and to require the state to provide free identification to eligible voters, effective July 1, 2013?" Yes or no? . . .

What will it cost?

For local election officials who would need to implement a new voting system, it’s not about GOP or DFL, it’s about what would be accomplished at what cost.

In Rock County, a general election currently costs about $50,000, according to Rock County Auditor Ashley Kurtz.

If the Constitutional amendment is approved, Rock County elections will cost nearly $100,000. And that’s only after the first year implementation costs of $185,000, by Kurtz’s estimates. . . .

What will it mean?

From the outset, she said, it appears as though there would be no more mail balloting.

Rock County currently has five mail ballot precincts, which originally chose to move to mail balloting because they did not have facilities available to serve polling places that were accessible to voters with disabilities.

The voter ID amendment would eliminate mail balloting and these precincts would be required to re-establish polling places and would incur the costs associated with that.

The estimated cost per mail-in precinct is $19,500, so in Rock County the cost would be $97,500. . .

What will it fix?

At first glance, Kurtz said it sounds like a good idea to have all voters present a valid photo identification to vote.

“And I don't think that any election administrator would disagree with that,” Kurtz said, emphasizing that the unknown details and unknown costs are the cause of concern. . . .

. . .She said the same-day registration is reliable, because the information provided is cross-checked through several databases. In Rock County there has never been a case where a same-day registrant was discovered to be ineligible.

In the editorial, Implementing voter ID amendment will create taxpayer expense, the Star Herald editors note:

Minnesota voters across the state will be asked on Nov. 6 whether or not they support a constitutional amendment that requires voters to show photo identification at the polls.

. . . It’s an expensive solution to a problem that doesn’t even exist.

Minnesota has the lowest rate of voter fraud in the nation, and the highest rate of voter turnout.

If fraud were a problem, then this Constitutional amendment would be a good idea, but it’s not.

The type of fraud most commonly caught by our current system of safeguards is a felon voting before his or her rights are restored. This fraud wouldn’t be fixed with a photo ID, since an ID wouldn’t identify the person as a felon at the polls. . . .

In Rock County it’s never happened. And none of the same-day voter registrations have ever turned out to be ineligible in Rock County. Ever.

Metro areas with same-day voter eligibility issues report ineligible felons — not impersonation that would be caught by a photo ID.

Is it really worth spending millions to revamp 150 years of Minnesota voter integrity?

Local election officials are tallying the costs of the measure, should it be approved. . . .

The Star Herald encourages its voting readers to research the ballot question beyond political bias — from both parties — before answering the question on the ballot.

And then, consider whether the benefits of the Voter ID would outweigh the costs.

Or, in other words, consider if the system isn’t broken, should we pay to “fix” it?

Pick up a copy of the paper or subscribe online. The voter suppression amendment may seem like common-sense, but when we dig deeper, it looks more like expensive nonsense.

Chart: the ballot question, the amendment, and the consequences.

Ranking House Ag Dem Collin Peterson speaks at Farm Bill Now coalition rally in Washington

Today in Washington, D.C., the Farm Bill Now Coalition rallied to urge Congress to pass the 2012 Farm Bill, but news accounts from the nation's capitol suggest that time is running out for passage.

Minnesota Public Radio's Brett Neely reports in Farmers, Rep. Peterson rally in Washington for new farm bill:

Hundreds of farmers rallied in front of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday for a new farm bill.

Almost everyone at the rally wore pins that said "Farm Bill Now." But the current farm bill is likely to expire at the end of the month without a replacement.

House Republicans are divided about how much to cut food stamp spending that's also covered by the bill.

Minnesota Democrat U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, the ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, said farmers aren't doing enough lobbying.

Agri Pulse staff writer Sarah Gonzalez reports in Ag leaders want more pressure from constituents for a farm bill:

Peterson said in an interview with Agri-Pulse earlier this week that “the problem is that you have half the Republican caucus that doesn’t like this bill for different reasons,” making it difficult to have overall compromise.

“There’s no good reason they didn’t bring the bill to the floor,” Peterson said today, noting that he disagrees with House leadership that there will not be enough votes to pass a five-year farm bill. “I think we do have the votes.”

. . .However, he told the frustrated farmers and commodity representatives on the Hill today he tended to be “too blunt” and that nothing will happen “only if nothing changes.”

“This rally is a good starting point, but we need 100 to 200 calls from people in these districts to these members,” he said. “We have eight days left, but we only need two days to pass this bill. They need to get the pressure put on.”

During today’s rally, Senator Jerry Moran, R-Kans., a Senate Agriculture Committee member, criticized the House, noting “if you have objections with this farm bill, bring it to the floor,” Moran said. “Solve the problem. Don’t sit on the sidelines waiting for something to happen."

Read both articles. Here's the video of Peterson (MN07-DFL) speaking to the rally:

Peterson mentions that crops are great out here in Minnesota's Seventh Congressional District. It's true. City Pages' Olivia LaVecchia reports in Minnesota has country's best corn crop in a drought-stricken season, USDA says:

 . . .the USDA is expecting 2 billion fewer bushels of corn than last year -- that's 10.7 billion instead of 2011's 12.26 billion. Nearly one-tenth of that crop is projected to come from Minnesota, which is currently on track to produce 1.18 billion bushels of corn.

This year, farmers across the state planted more corn acreage than ever. And all those acres are yielding higher returns than the rest of the country's: While the USDA predicts a national per-acre average of 122.8 bushels, Minnesota is on track to produce 156 bushels of corn for every acre planted. We've felt the drought too -- that state average is lower than last year's -- but the 33-bushel difference between us and the rest of the country is significant.

Disagreements about the Farm Bill have been a source of contention in the race between Congressman Tim Walz and Republican challenger Allen Quist in Minnesota's First District.

Photo: Combining corn.

Related posts: Allen Quist: Farm Bill "is constructed to turn us into a European-style welfare state"

In MNCD1 Tim Walz promoted jobs for vets while Quist flanked himself with anti-Farm Bill stand

MN Farm Bureau president Kevin Paap totally rebuts Quist's notion of a Farm Bill without food

Quist will hold press tour to tell MN Farm Bureau it's Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! about the Farm Bill

Quist misleads about new Farm Bill on Late Debate; calls legislation "Food Stamps and Gold Bullion Bill"

Walz op-ed on Farm Bill: Not just for farmers

Farm Bill Now and MNCD1: Walz praises coalition; Quist opposes bill's passage

Minnesota GOP uses 9-11 message (& much, much more) on Rally fundraising page

While the progressive Blog Bros are dutifully staying on message by posting a jpg of a Republican 9-11 mail delivered to them (Bluestem was annoyed to get this, since we've asked everyone not to send us blogger talking point emails), the real fun started when we began to read Republican Party of Minnesota's  Rally fundraising page at the end of that outrage rainbow.

Yes, it's awful to send an 9-11 email via your fundraising apparatus.

Rally  bills itself as a narrative-driven tool:

Rally is an online social fundraising platform that harnesses the power of storytelling, making it easier to raise more money and reach new people. We make it easy for you to accept donations online (no merchant account needed!) and also engage with your growing network of supporters. Anyone can raise money for a cause on Rally.

Moving down the  MNGOP Rally page, though, the general reader can learn a great deal about the psyche of the MNGOP for the last six months than absorb a coherent storyline.  It's all donkey hate, voter suppression hysteria, Biden bashing, and national delegates paying their registration fees for last month's convention in Tampa.

Heck of a storyline.

And the ROI is the awesome. The page has 78,380 supporters--and the fundraising goal is $50,000. So far, $22,030 has been raised in six months, much of it apparently dedicated to RNC registration fees. Rally takes 4.5 percent  transaction fee off the top of each contribution.

The interactive discourse is TLC-worthy with a dash of Mark Twain's famous quotation about cat grammar thrown in. Folks tell the Party whose hand is outstretched that it's not conservative enough. Three months ago, Mickey Timmons wrote:

We need to take back the country and the state from the socialists now. No more cooperation. No more RHINOS.

David Smith said:

We need to restore our founder's visions of "Limited Government" and restore states rights. I'm not convinced that the Republican Party is right-wing enough to do that anymore, but I will support them one more time or until they prove otherwise.

And then there are the voter fraud conspiracists. Preston Smith wrote:

I am an election judge - in our training we were told that if a voter doesn't vote on the amendments (leaves them blank) that it will be counted as a 'NO' vote. Is this true? If it is, who determined that?

Yes, OMG, who  determined that? That evil Secretary of State?  The amendment process  wasn't the only thing those visiting the MNGOP Rally fundraising page hadn't heard of.

Austin Culp hadn't heard of much in the way of candidates:

Who is running for US Senate? His name is never mentioned in Western MN.

Someone suggested a write-in. Mark Walorski wrote:

Jesus wins!

Katherine Olig wasn't so sure about that victory, since the other red menace is lurking:

Let's save our exceptional country from socialism/communism and preserve our constitutional rights.

Other visitors offered unsolicited advice. Bob Reid had a gender-bound solution:

Grow a pair and act like you WON the last election! I'm tired of supporting people who care more about the opinion of the Dayton Family Liars party than MN Conservatives.

K J Guddal shouted:

THE MN GOP NEEDS TO GET ITS HOUSE IN ORDER TO AVOID THE BAD PRESS IT SEEMS TO GARNER. GOOD LUCK RE BACKING RICHIE UP AGAINST THE WALL.

Bluestem's editor was raised by conservative parents in Southern Minnesota, and after reading that, we're certain this isn't our daddy's Independent Republicans. Perhaps Chairman Pat Shortage can try a cake walk, garage sale or magazine subscription drive.

Images: Swiped from the Republican Party of Minnesota Rally fundraising page.

Allen Quist's beloved Republican Study Committee and ALEC to form partnership

In August, Republican MNCD1 nominee Allen Quist told Mankato Free Press staff writer Mark Fischenich that if he were elected in November, that he would join the Republican Study Committee:

So why does Quist think he — as one of 435 lawmakers in one house of one branch of the federal government — will make a bigger dent in the red ink than those who came before him?

Quist said he’s ready to join the Republican Study Committee, a group of the House’s most conservative members. A subset of that committee totaling about 85 members is committed to eliminating the deficit in five years, according to Quist, who is promising on the campaign trail to meet that ambitious timeline.

After a deal being brokered now, he'll have some company in the form of  corporate front group, the  American Legislative Exchange Council. Alex Seitz-Wald reports in GOP’s corporate front group:

After a long flirtation, the GOP and ALEC are taking steps toward making their relationship official. ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, is a controversial advocacy group that helps corporations and conservative interest groups write bills to be introduced in state legislatures across the country. ALEC “model legislation” includes rollbacks on environmental and labor regulation, voter ID laws and pro-gun laws, such as the “stand your ground” law that became infamous after the death of Trayvon Martin in Florida earlier this year. Recently, ALEC has come under increasing scrutiny, leading at least 37 major corporations to drop their sponsorship of the organization, including GE and Sprint, which pulled out just two weeks ago.

Despite this, the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of over 160 conservative lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives, which functions like the official in-house think tank for House Republicans, is taking steps to establish a “partnership” with the corporate front group, Roll Call’s Janie Lorber reports. The RSC has been working quietly with ALEC to host an event with federal and state lawmakers at the conservative Heritage Foundation on Friday. Paul Teller, the executive director of the RSC, was happy to embrace the ALEC. “Frankly, this gathering is long overdue … As Washington encroaches more and more into state and local spheres, it’s important that conservative legislators at the federal and state levels collaborate on policies to stop and roll back the ever-expanding federal government.”

Southern Minnesotans who breathed a sigh of relief when ALEC member ans retiring state senator Mike Parry--who compared belonging to ALEC to being a member of Rotary (as if Rotary helped him introduce a bill protecting companies against asbestos victims' claims)--was defeated by Quist in the August primary.

Sadly no. Should Quist defeat Congressman Tim Walz in November, the corporate front group will have yet another friend in the House.

Update: The Voters Legislative Transparency Project takes a closer look at one implication of the new partnership on the federal level with ALEC-New Partnerships and Exposing Hidden Foreign Influences – with a Comparison to the NCSL.

Cartoon: Allen Quist, by Ken Avidor.

Related post: Emo Senator: Mike Parry confuses ALEC membership with local Rotary chapter

In SD24, MNGOP has money for stamps but not competent oppo research in attacks on Jensen

Pity poor Republican Party of Minnesota state chair Pat Shortage.  Weak candidates on the top of the ticket, public discontent with the Republican-controlled state legislature, anda  money situation that threatened to send the state office into the mean streets of St. Paul.

But the chair has gathered enough coin to send out two attack independent expediture mailings targeting SD24 DFL-endorsed candidate Vicki Jensen of Owatonna. The front and back of the second mailer are posted here.

Having paid for postage and scraped together printing costs, apparently the pachyderms have had to do a generic cut-and-paste against the businesswoman, school board member, Chamber of Commerce activist and mother.

In the Gospel according to Shortage, Jensen isn't any of those things, but "a rubber stamp for special interest with an extreme agenda."

Oh. Scary.

Jensen's stands on issues--improving local schools, strengthening small businesses, creating efficiencies in government--are on her website.

The first mailing  which claimed that Jensen was "hand-picked" by these unnamed groups, prompted the 2010 DFL candidate, who had been endorsed by area Democrats over Jensen, to write to the local paper and point out the foolishness.

In Senate candidate Vicki Jensen not 'hand-picked' by special interest groups, Alexander de Marco writes:

This weekend, I received an outrageous piece of filth from the Republican Party. It was a hatchet job, asserting that Senate candidate Vicki Jensen was "hand-picked" by "ultra-liberal special interest groups."

It then went on to assert her and these groups' alleged agenda, spinning vague right wing rhetoric about "raising taxes on families and small businesses" and "huge, new government spending programs." The piece fails to articulate a single interest group, or provide any citation whatsoever to the GOP's assertions about her or anyone's positions. It's not even a functional campaign piece.

It's as if they just transcribed some disorganized a.m. talk radio bloviator, printed it and mailed it. This sets the tone for the next two and half months. The GOP has no affirmative policy agenda whatsoever, so instead of working hard to develop one, they reach into a bucket, pull out a fist full of darts, and whip it frantically at a wall hoping one hits a bulls eye.

I ran for this office, and I've been on the inside track of it since Dick Day left the seat. Vicki Jensen was picked by the same "interest group" that nominated Engbrecht in 2009 for the special election, and myself in 2010: Your neighbors who stepped up to be delegates at a district convention.

If she's the one these "groups" wanted, why did I get nominated in 2010? The fact is, multiple people are not clamoring for this difficult job, and she stepped up to the plate as a known public servant in the community, a school board member, a committee member of the Owatonna Chamber of Commerce, and a small business owner. She alone sought nomination.

Nothing stopped anyone else from nominating someone at the convention. If you disagree with her positions, fine, but the idea that some shadowy Manchurian candidate style cabal has its fingers in humble district 24 is ridiculous fear-mongering nonsense, and that's all the GOP has this year, apparently.

With the retirement of Mike Parry, the open seat is considered competitive by many observers.

Photos: The second Republican mailer against Vicki Jensen in SD24 (above); Vicki Jensen (below).