Did everyone notice that all of the kids pictured on the bus postcard are cute white kids?
While that's an alias, we recognized the email address as that of a reader from rural Southern Minnesota who is indeed a grandfather with two grandchildren of color.
Upon reflecting on Grandpa's question, we thought that the graphic design choices made by whomever the Republican-front-group Minnesota Jobs Coalition hired to put its junk mail together probably wasn't from around here.
But rather than basing our post on casual observations drawn from shopping in Willmar, we checked the Minnesota Report Card database online. It's a project of the Minnesota Department of Education that makes all sorts of interesting data available to parents, employers and other interested citizens.
Here's what the demographics for the two public elementary schools in Willmar's public school's look like:
Jeepers, it appears that non-Latino white children are a minority of those kids attending Roosevelt and Kennedy Elementary in Representative Dave Baker's district.
What about the kids in Jeff Backer's district? On the Minnesota Jobs Coalition postcard, they look exactly like the stock photo kids on the Minnesota Jobs Coalition junk mail:
Those child pale in comparison with the demographics in two districts in Backer's tuff--Morris and Backer's home town of Browns Valley:
Morris school kids are about 15 percent children of color, while Traverse County's proximity to the Sisseton Dakota reservation has produced the situation where Sisseton children attend elementary school in Browns Valley, and Browns Valley teens attend high school in South Dakota, according to the Browns Valley Public School District's website.
The real kids on the real buses? Nothing like the junk mail. We do wish that metro conservatives knew what communities are like out on the prairie.
Finally, those stock-photo kids on the school bus make an appearance for Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, who was also investing on our schools:
Well jeepers.
Here's the demographic data for elementary schools in Montevideo and BOLD (Bird island-Olivia-Lake Lillian-Danube):
And Appleton Elementary and Benson's Northside:
With only a ten-percent enrollment of children of color (8 percent Latino and 2 percent Black), that photo might be appropriate for Benson, but we're pretty sure Milan's thriving Micronesian community is on the bus to Appleton, where fifteen percent of the elementary children enjoy Hispanic heritage.
For additional reading on the Minnesota Jobs Coalition's junk mail campaign, which is also carpet bombing mailboxes in St. Cloud, see our earlier posts:
Images: Postcards from the MJC direct mail campaign and screenshots of demographic profile's from the Minnesota Department of Education Minnesota Report Card database.
We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
We've learned of some pushback--and a snowstorm of more cards in MN17B, the Willmar side of the senate district.
"Don't fall for this fraud"
A friend sent us a photo of a letter from Appleton attorney Brian Wojtalewicz, Please don't fall for this fraud. The small town paper has no website, so here's a transcription:
You recently may have received some flyers in the mail from the MN Jobs Coalition thanking Tim Miller for increasing education funding by $500 million dollars [BSP: image above]. These flyers are deceptive and dishonest.
In the 2015 legislative session, Tim Miller and his House Republican colleagues did not fight for $500 million in increased education funding. The Republican majority’s education finance bill that Tim Miller voted for did not even keep pace with inflation. Had Tim Miller had his way, it would have led to teacher layoffs and would have short-changed our schools and particularly our pre-schools.
At the end of the legislative session, Governor Dayton vetoed the education finance bill. He sent it back to the legislature stating that his approval required a real investment in our schools. Due to Tim Miller’s actions, we were forced to pay for a costly special legislative session; which brought us about a week away from a government shutdown. Governor Dayton fought for and won this increased funding in the special session education finance bill despite Tim Miller; not because of Tim Miller, as the MN Jobs Coalition would hope to have you believe.
So who is the MN Jobs Coalition? And why are they out to deceive you the voter? The MN Jobs Coalition is the negative attack ally of the (Minnesota) House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) used to funnel special interest and corporate money into deceptive and misleading attack ads. Remember all those awful mailers that flooded your mailbox last fall - you can thank the MN Jobs Coalition for that. In 2014, Ben Golnik did the MN Jobs Coalition's dirty work and he was rewarded by being named the executive director of the GOP House Caucus at the MN Capitol after the election. Your tax dollars now pay him a salary of $125,000 per year plus generous benefits.
Who funded the MN Jobs Coalition's work? According to 2014 public campaign reports, the Jobs Coalition's largest contributors funneled money from big tobacco (Reynolds American and Altria), big oil (Exxon Mobile), and big insurance companies as well as the Koch Brothers and Las Vegas casino operators into Minnesota legislative campaigns like Tim Miller's. Is it any wonder when the MN Jobs Coalition is heavily funded by out-of-state corporations and big businesses looking for special favors that Tim Miller voted in their interests rather than looking out for our interests and those of our kids?
Of course, carrying the water for big corporate special interests is not popular - and so you get misleading mailings like the ones you just received. And undoubtedly, you'll be seeing more and more of those mailings as huge flows of non-Minnesota special interest money floods into our state over the next year. Please don’t fall for this fraud.
Here's the photo we were sent of the letter in the Banner:
Blizzard of Baker BS buries Willmar mailboxes
But the fraudulent flacking isn't confined to the A side of District 17. Indeed, multiple sizes of the education and transportation postcards are hitting mailboxes in Willmar, which freshman representative Dave Baker won by a margin of 214 votes in 2014.
At least five mailings--all with the same text about education and transportation--have been sent to the swing district, so it's possible by the time of next November's election, the Minnesota Jobs Coalition may have sent more pieces of junk mail to each voter than Baker's margin of victory.
Here are three of them:
Lovely. As Wojtalewicz wrote: " Remember all those awful mailers that flooded your mailbox last fall - you can thank the MN Jobs Coalition for that."
Dave Baker voted on that hot mess, but it didn't become law--and the original plan on the part of Baker, Miller and the rest of caucus was to shift some education money to pay the tab.
"DFL leaders in the House Tuesday criticized the plan as a shortsighted “house of cards.” House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, and a parade of DFLers complained that it siphons off general fund dollars that would otherwise be used for education and health care."
So there you have it: the Minnesota Jobs Coalition is praising Miller for securing education funding Governor Dayton had to pry out of the legislature, while lauding Baker for voting for a failed partisan effort that defied compromise.
We can't make this up--but can take some joy that this is what MJC is investing its money "on."
Since the mail pieces don't say, "vote for" the legislators, no disclosure of the funding is required. Former Representative Ryan Winkler's legislation would have changed that situation. When the mail begins to be sent by the MN Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund as independent expenditures, the PAC will have to file campaign finance reports with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.
Photos from top to bottom: Tim Miller; the pro-Miller education mailer; the letter in the Kerkhoven Banner; three of the mail pieces sent to Willmar.
We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Earlier this week, the Republican front group Minnesota Jobs Coalition started sending junk mail to voters in at least three state House districts that flipped from DFL to GOP control in the 2014 election.
Bluestem is struck be the incoherence of the messaging when the cards are brought together.
Take the postcards sent in both halves of our senate district, MN17. Voters in MN17A received a mail piece extolling Representative Tim Miller's super human efforts on behalf of K-12 education, though not, alas, for grammar.
Here's address side of the card, thanking Tim Miller "for investing on our schools."
And on the back, Miller is praised for voting for over $500 million in new funding for education.
While Miller voted for that level of funding, the card claims that Miller "helped" secure it. This is peculiar wording, since what Miller really wanted was quite a bit different--and only a gubernatorial veto dragged his kingly finger to vote for higher funding.
The plan increases school spending by $157 million, far less than proposals by the Senate and governor.
House Republicans on Saturday approved an education budget bill that increases spending by $157 million, setting up a confrontation with DFLers in the House and Senate who call the amount paltry. . . .
The Senate has proposed $350 million in new spending; Dayton has proposed an additional $695 million, most of which would be for his top priority of offering universal preschool for all 4-year-olds in the state.
DFLers have decried the Republican proposal, saying that its overall 1.2 percent increase to the state’s per-pupil funding formula is too small and doesn’t keep up with inflation. As a result, they say it will force schools to cut programs, increase class sizes and force the layoffs of teachers.
Meanwhile, the Senate and Dayton have proposed overall increases of 2 percent, which some schools say still wouldn’t be enough. Dayton said recently he would support an increase of 3 percent. . . .
With the date and content of an upcoming special session still unsettled, the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton did reveal significant agreement on the next Minnesota budget on Friday. . . .
The final bill is closer to the nearly $700 million in new money Dayton wanted than the $150 million House Republicans initially proposed.
“It’s worth it, $125 million for the extra few weeks,” said Sen. Charles Wiger, DFL-Maplewood, Senate Education Committee chair. “When you look at where the House started, I’m pleased. I admire the governor’s tenacity.”
More than half the new money, $350 million, will go toward increasing by 2 percent a year the per pupil funding formula schools use for general operations. The base per-student funding schools receive will grow from $5,831 this year to $6,067 in 2017. School officials said increasing that funding was among their top priorities this year. . . .
The final bill also includes several policy changes, including streamlining the process for licensing teachers. It does not include controversial changes to teacher seniority rules for layoffs or a requirement that transgender students use bathrooms based on their sex at birth. Republicans had pushed for those provisions.
That provision about transgender children--not over $500 million in funding--is what Miller fought for in the education bill. How bad was the original House Republican bill for rural Minnesota? Dilworth DFLer Paul Marquart wrote in GOP leaving Greater Minnesota behind:
This session, with a nearly $2 billion projected budget surplus, Republicans are increasing school funding by just 0.6 percent. This will put many school districts in the red, causing them to layoff teachers and increase class sizes.
Under a fully phased-in tax bill, Republicans will spend $29 in tax giveaways — mostly for corporations — for every $1 they put toward education. This kind of imbalance will leave our students behind and make it even harder for rural schools to compete with metro schools. With a surplus, education should be a top priority, but the GOP are choosing to underfund our schools so that big businesses can see a tax break.
But there's more. Over on the B side of our senate district (and in Jim Knobloch's St Cloud-area district), voters received this item praising Assistant Majority Leader Dave Baker, R-Willmar:
Dave Baker voted on that hot mess, but it didn't become law--and the original plan on the part of Baker, Miller and the rest of caucus was to shift some education money to pay the tab.
DFL leaders in the House Tuesday criticized the plan as a shortsighted “house of cards.” House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, and a parade of DFLers complained that it siphons off general fund dollars that would otherwise be used for education and health care.
So there you have it: the Minnesota Jobs Coalition is praising Miller for securing education funding Governor Dayton had to pry out of the legislature, while lauding Baker for voting for a failed partisan effort that defied compromise.
We can't make this up--but can take some joy that this is what MJC is investing its money "on."
(Update: a friend notes that since the mail pieces don't say, "vote for" the legislators, no disclosure of the funding is required. Former Representative Ryan Winkler's legislation would have changed that situation).
Photo: The other side of the transportation mailer, as sent to voters in Representative Knoblach's district (above); the Miller education postcard, front and back (middle); the Baker transportation mailer (below).
We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
A third Democratic candidate has thrown in to run for election in the open Second Congressional District seat.
Roger Kittelson filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission Nov. 4 and has been apparently out on the campaign trail, making speeches and introducing himself to voters.
He is the third Democratic candidate running for the seat to be vacated next year by Republican Rep. John Kline.
Some friends wondered if--as has been speculated in the Entenza challege to Otto--that there was an anti-environmental subtext going on in this race as well.
We noticed the Wisconsin phone number and gave him a call to find out if he had indeed run for office in Wisconsin--and to learn his motivation for challenging a powerful committee chair.
Kittelson confirmed that he'd purchased a home for one of his sons in Minneapolis two years ago, and started moving his own possessions into the house from Wisconsin around Christmas as he bid on houses in the South Minneapolis neighborhood in anticipation of his retirement from the Grande Cheese Company in Lomira, Wisconsin.
He finished his move about a month ago, he told Bluestem, and is looking for a new career. Hence the primary bid.
But the run for office isn't exactly a new career. While marketing Wisconsin's dairy products, he again sought public office.
According to the Wikipedia entry for the now former Badger politician:
"Kittelson faced off against Mark Wollum in the Democratic primary on Sept. 9, 2008 and won with 64% to Wollum’s 36%.[1]
"Kittelson’s platform was based on ending the war in Iraq, creating a system of universal health care, and promoting fair trade agreements.[2] In opposition to most Democrats, Kittelson ran as a pro-life candidate for the issue of abortion.[3]
"According to the final finance reports, Kittelson raised $18,202 for his campaign.[4]
Angie Craig and Mary Lawrence are seeking the DFL endorsement. Both are pro-choice; Craig has been endorsed by Women Winning, which supports pro-choice women candidates.
Minneapolis resident?
Kittelson's FEC filing lists a Minneapolis address. Congressional candidates need not live in the district where they are seeking office (though they have to be residents of the state in which the district is located).
The retired dairy industry professional is not alone in seeking office in MN02 while residing elsewhere. Republican contender Jason Lewis lives just over the district boundary in Woodbury. As we noted in an earlier post, Mary Lawrence and her husband own a property in Credit River Township, Scott County, but have claimed homestead status for their home on Lake Harriet Parkway in Minneapolis. Scott County records accessed in mid-September indicated that the Lawrences had not claimed homestead status for the rural property.
We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
As an Assistant Majority Leader and vice chair of the Jobs and Energy Committee, I will be fighting like heck in St. Paul to make sure we’re prioritizing broadband and that Kandiyohi County has a seat at the table.
Last year was the first year of a two-year term. We put in $10 million for broadband last year, and I hope to build on that next session. I will keep meeting with stakeholders, including my legislative colleagues, and continue to lay the groundwork for next session.
In fact, last year was 2014, and Baker had yet to be elected.
We have to wonder about the fickle nature of Baker's passions as well, for the Minnesota House Jobs and Energy Committee originally proposed zeroing out the state's budget for broadband, while eliminating the Border-to-Border broadband office.
As Baker's colleague Clark Johnson, DFL-North Mankato, observed in Connect Minnesota:
During the 2014 legislative session, I voted for $20 million in broadband grants for underserved areas. Some of that has been invested in south central Minnesota. When Governor Dayton proposed an additional $30 million in broadband grants in his state budget earlier this year, it appeared likely that we would further expand broadband to Greater Minnesota.
With a projected $2 billion state budget surplus last year, there was plenty of room for a significant investment in Greater Minnesota broadband. Unfortunately, the House Republicans initially opposed any type of funding for broadband development grants. It was only after weeks of pressure from Greater Minnesota that they began to consider supporting funding for broadband.
After long negotiations with Governor Dayton, and a special session, the final budget bill only included $10.6 million, about half of what we invested in 2014. A budget surplus is not a time to retreat from investing in critical infrastructure critical to the future of Greater Minnesota. . . .
The Post Bulletin makes the point that suggesting wireless for rural areas is like suggesting generators over getting rural homes on the power grid…
"House Republicans seemingly abandoned their broadband leadership role within a week of returning from spring break. Rep. Pat Garofalo introduced the House’s Energy and Economic Development Budget bill last week without any broadband funding. The Farmington Republican said creating hardwired systems for rural broadband is too expensive, pointing to wireless and satellite Internet as cheaper options.
"Why not take his argument a step further and note that new homes being built in Rochester don’t actually need to be connected to the power grid. A variety of generators are available at home improvement stores, which could serve the same purpose without requiring Rochester Public Utilities to incur the added expense of new lines."
The Grand Rapids Herald suggests that a push from the public is needed to help improve the broadband budget…
"The decision not to fund broadband by the House Job Growth & Energy Affordability Finance Committee is far from the final say on the issue. In fact, it could be considered the first of many skirmishes in the session over broadband funding.
"The session has about five weeks to go, and the serious bargaining is still a couple weeks away. There will be House and Senate differences on the issue, conference committee negotiations and the governor will certainly have his say in those talks and then would have to sign off on any final bill. . . ."
The Albert Lea Tribune focuses on legislators claim to be focusing on rural…
With a little more than a month to go until the end of the legislative session, we ask legislators to remember the emphasis they declared on rural Minnesota when they started the session.
With some of the bills and issues discussed in the last week, it leaves us to wonder whether that is still a goal.
The House Job Growth & Energy Affordability Finance Committee has proposed eliminating funding to build out broadband Internet access across Minnesota. This a step backward from the funding approved last year for Greater Minnesota.
According to the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and the Greater Minnesota Partnership, nearly 40 percent of Greater Minnesota households lack access to broadband at the state speed goals compared to only 6.7 percent of households in the metro area.
Greater Minnesota’s economy and quality of life is affected by this access to high quality broadband service.
The West Central Tribune also reminds Legislators to think rural…
"For all their campaigning in 2014 on the importance of rural Minnesota, House Republicans in their budget proposal have chosen to invest $0 for the state’s broadband assistance program."
It's a good thing that Republicans like Baker are coming round to seeing the value of broadband for rural Minnesota. Indeed, he's spinning so fast on this one, he's lost track of what year it is: 2015, the same year of the session during which Greater Minnesota lobbyists and grassroots, with the help of the minority caucus, had to battle and reverse plans Garofalo and Baker's committee concocted.
No wonder Baker is confused.
Photo: Broadband is important for corn farming and other living things. It's part of a healthy business environment for Greater Minnesota.
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Here's the video of the exchange between Cathy Hollander of MN 350 and Governor Mark Dayton about pipelines. Dayton is polite but adamant that pipelines must be built. Before the exchange escalates, MEP president Steve Morse ends the debate by moving on to the next question:
Dayton isn't pandering to his environmental allies on pipeline development in Minnesota. He's disagreeing with them--and as the guest of honor at their yearly party.
Apparently the Speaker forgot to attend the August 4 gala. As a consequence, Daudt issued a press release, Daudt to Dayton administration: Let's keep Sandpiper on track, that accused Dayton of working hand-in-glove with "activist groups" that fund DFL legislators in the metro:
It's pretty easy for Democrats in Minneapolis and Saint Paul—where the unemployment rate is at 3.7 percent—to oppose these projects to appease the powerful special interest groups that fund their campaigns.
Teeny tiny greenie money
We're curious which activist groups Daudt is talking about funding DFL candidates. In 2014, the Clean Water Action Fund spent exactly $0 on candidates from all parties, while the Sierra Club's PAC forked over a whopping $12,108.11 in independent expenditures--about what the Minnesota Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund would spend on one middling race.
Conservation Minnesota Voter Fund? In 2014's amended year-end report, we learn the group spent a total of $4,196.00, with $1800.00 going to candidates in amounts so small that they didn't have to be itemized. While the DFL House Caucus received $500 in 2014, Daudt's own HRCC got $600 thrown at them. David Hann's Senate Victory Fund aced that with $500. There's one non-itemized contribution for $100. Heck, the committee started the year with $27,449.20 cash on hand, while closed it with an ending cash balance of $48,358.64.
The CMVC Fund (Conservation MN Voter Center) gave no money directly to candidates, but spent $57,863 on independent expenditures across the state. To put that in perspective, contrast the $1,209.00 spent on independent expenditures in support of Andrew Falk in MN17A (the group did no negative campaigning) with MN Jobs Coalition (right) and Alliance for a Better Minnesota in the west central Minnesota district.
MN Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund spent a total of $609,160.45 on independent expenditures statewide, with a focus on state House races, with $90,779.13 going to defeat Falk, while the Alliance for a Better Minnesota Action Fund spent $4,548,573.75 statewide (governor and House races), with $85,044.99 being spent in 17A to defeat challenger Tim Miller. We've gone into the corporate donors to MJC here before; most of the ABM action cash came from the WIN Minnesota Political Action--with the lion's share of that cash coming from labor. It's not exactly tree hugging.
We eagerly await the spectacle of Kurt Daudt's explanation of that one, but in the meantime, we're willing to bet that the Speaker will continue to rattle about Big Green Meanie Money.
Photo: Building the Sandpiper pipeline via Enbridge. We're not a fan of the project, but we can't honestly say Dayton isn't. Only Kurt Daudt can come up with that one.
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With a hotly contested September 29 DFL primary in Minnesota House District 3A to fill the vacant seat created by the loss of Representative David Dill to cancer in early August, at least one independent expenditure radio ad has hit the airwaves, a hit piece against Bill Hansen from the conservative group Minnesota Jobs Coalition.
We'd checked with the Board by email and received this response from Executive Director Gary Goldsmith:
Minnesota statutes do not provide for additional reporting for party units or political committees or funds in a special election, so for this year we will see only the year-end reports.
Only candidates in the election have additional reporting, so we won’t know anything about independent expenditures until the year-end reports.
Gary
Gary Goldsmith Executive Director Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board
As we noted, the independent expenditure spending for the Northeastern Minnesota special election has begun. Blois Olson noted in Thursday's Morning Take:
HS3A: The Minnesota Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund announced an independent expenditure radio advertisement in Minnesota House District 3A against Bill Hansen. Via the news release, VERBATIM: "Bill Hansen has tried to campaign as a moderate but the reality is Hansen is the only candidate in District 3A who opposes mining projects like PolyMet. Hansen has twice been endorsed by DFL activists in the past and has been endorsed by liberal-environmentalist special interest groups," LISTEN: http://bit.ly/1Kiq28o
Or the irony of a well-funded Twin Cities-based ideological political action group funded by special interests ripping one DFL second-generation business owner for ties to metro special interests?
Tough call.
There's also the distinct possibility that many radio listeners will have no idea who the Minnesota Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund is--or where its money comes from. The nearest spending by MJC was $4,068.70 in the 10B Cayuna Range race against Joe Radinovich and a whopping $95,341.44 in 10A against John Ward.
And given the rules, the voters won't know who's tossing coin in the MJC pot until nearly two months after the election.
The Republican State Leadership Committee: This Washington, D.C.-based group invested heavily in trying to help Minnesota Republicans win back control of the state House, donating $355,000 to the Minnesota Jobs Coalition to spend on GOP House candidates. And while Republicans they supported in suburban areas of the state mostly lost, candidates in greater Minnesota won – giving the GOP the majority in the House.
The Minnesota Jobs Coalition: This group was among many conservative organizations that backed Republican House candidates. But what set it apart from the pack was its close work with the RSLC, serving as the primary conduit for the group’s money. Unlike the state Republican Party and other GOP groups, the Minnesota Jobs Coalition spent most of its money targeting candidates for the Minnesota House. After fine-tuning its messaging and microtargeting strategies early in the year, the group also invested its cash in races that were considered a long shot early in the election, forcing Democrats to match that investment . . .
If Tom Bakk is cheering the MN Job Coalition Legislative attack on an environmental-minded DFLer in his own senate district, he might have some chicken come home to roost, since the Republican State Leadership Committee has put his senate leadership on its to-do list for 2016. As Bluestem reported in MN Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund's biggest donor in flipping House vows to take Senate, that money is likely to be funneled via the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, given its prowess in 2014.
Can the pro-sulfide mining Rangers keep it together long enough to recognize that the enemy of their "enemy" is not their friend? With Dill--justly known as the brain of the outfit--passed on, we can only wonder.
Photo: Voters won't know who put the hay in the Minnesota Jobs Coalition's money barn--or any party or PAC loft--until February 1.
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One tool for understanding political party units is to examine their fundraising and spending. With the special election to fill the House District 3A seat left vacant by the untimely death of Representative David Dill turning into a free-for-all, we thought we'd look at the financial health of the local DFL senate district.
After a kind reader suggested that we look at the finances of the SD3 DFL, we concluded that money had certainly been no object, since the senate district committee had finished the tumultuous 2014 campaign season with over $9200 in the bank.
Even more curious: of the $84,750 given to DFL candidates from 2012 through 2014, only $9500--all in 2014--went to Minnesota state house campaign committees--and the late Rep. David Dill's campaign committee received $7500.00 of that figure. (By contrast, MN3B DFL incumbent Mary Murphy received only $500. Both candidates won by garnering over 60 percent of the vote).
The rest of the money sent to DFL House candidates went to people running in districts adjoining the Third: Joe Radinovich ($500), Jennifer Schultz ($250), Erik Simonson ($250) and John Ward (500).
The rest? Sent to to state senate Democrats around the state. although there no no state senators on the ballot.
In 2013, the SD3 DFL gave $14,800 to 11 senate candidates who weren't on the ballot; of this amount, $4500 went to Majority Leader Bakk's campaign. In 2012, when all state senate and house seats were up for election and Bakk was looking to flip the senate, the committee cut $40,750 in checks to DFL candidates around the state. All of this went to Senate candidates, including $5000 to Senator Bakk.
The committee also gave $5000 to the DFL Senate Caucus in 2012 and $10,000 in 2013. The state DFL received $2000 in 2012, nothing in 2013 and $1000 in 2014. (These totals are entered in a different section of the report and are in addition to the contributions to candidate campaign committees.
This pattern of giving is unusual for DFL senate districts that give money to candidates, in that senate and county units ordinarily give to candidates within their borders--or give to candidates in a variety of state-level candidates.
We'll have more analysis later in the week, but the giving patterns suggest that the contributions are tied to Bakk's leadership in the Minnesota Senate.
Here's the 2012 Senate District 3 year-end campaign finance report:
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The latter piece contains language from an unnamed Republican legislator that makes us wonderful who's the designated majority caucus potty mouth:
State Rep. Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) was salty during the early springtime in 2014.
Democrats in the Minnesota Legislature, Daudt carped, were squandering $90 million in taxpayer cash for a new four-story Senate Office Building.
“Here we are," said Daudt. "Democrats in St. Paul are about to spend between $60 and $90 million of taxpayers’ hard-earned money to build themselves an office building. This looks horrible.”
But about the same time Daudt was railing about waste, he was working behind the scenes to secure a posh redecoration of his own digs as part of the Capitol's massive renovation, according to a GOP legislator, who spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to run afoul of Daudt.
"Kurt's not a bad guy," says the source. "But this is fucked because here he was beating the shit out of the Democrats at the same he was angling and negotiating to decorate his new office with fancy shit. It eats away at our credibility." . . .
According to the GOP lawmaker, that cash [an extra $2 million] is earmarked for such things as a $10,000 ceremonial door for Daudt's office, vintage hardwood floors that the speaker "insisted on," and "fancy leather furniture" that will hark back to the days when Theodore Roosevelt was president.
What are Minnesotans to do when both Senate Majority Leader Bakk and now Speaker Daudt appear to require quality construction and furnishings in St. Paul? How can we flourish with slow or no broadband, pock-marked roads and dangerous rail crossings while our leaders craft more backroom conference committee deals behind that closed $10,000 door or rocking in those high-end chairs in committee rooms where the recording equipment's been turned off?
Entirely coincidentally (we think), a lobbyist forwarded photos of an invitation to the House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) 20th Annual Elephant Annual Golf Tournament at the Bunker Hills Golf Club on Monday, September 14, 2015, in Coon Rapids (invitation cover at the top of this post).
The enclosed list of prices for sponsorships caught our eye, since that platinum sponsor is $10,000:
We were struck by the fact that $10,000, directed to the restoration, would pay for that fancy door. That insight led us to dream big by proposing one simple trick that will solve the problem of making the role of money in policy-making more transparent.
It's taken for granted now that lobbyists write the laws for our legislators, mostly, while they and their clients foot the bill for political campaigns and independent expenditures. Attack ads on the airwaves assault the voters' tranquility, while our mail boxes are besieged by mean-spirited over-sized junk mail savaging one candidate, canonizing the other, or both.
Indeed, as both Condon and Zukowski report, these hit pieces often concern legislators spending on their swanky office suites.
We can put an end to this waste. Let's make government more efficient by cutting out the middleman. Instead of having special interests foot the bills for political campaigns, buy the legislators, then write the laws, let's just sell the state capitol outright and let the lobbyists use the space to do what they do anyway.
Let's not reduce the size of the state legislature or whack one chamber, as reformers repeatedly suggest. Let's get rid of the entire experiment. Let's be honest about the purpose of the building and let the new owners foot the bill.
Photos: Elements from the invitation to go golfing with the HRCC. While we're using a Republican invitation, the DFL caucuses host similar fundraisers.
Bluestem is conducting a week-long, mid-August contribution drive. Please give if you can.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
In 2014, Tim Miller (R-Prinsburg) was adamant in his opposition to expanding public assistance for broadband. Miller said:
I believe that private industry is doing that work, and if there's anything that state can do, it can facilitate that work for private industry to earn profit so that they can expand high-speed throughout all of this district.
If there are school districts, if there are any public facilities, if there are any regions that need remedial help, I would consider that through legislation, but I would not be in favor of public funding of expanding.
Bluestem was pleasantly surprised to read something quite to the contrary in an email we received on Friday:
What is the future of broadband in the State of Minnesota?
This is one of the top questions I've heard from residents since the end of the 2015 session, and I can tell you that I expect broadband to be a top legislative priority in 2016.
When you think of ways to enhance economic development in Greater Minnesota, reliable broadband technology ranks near the top of the list. Most people recognize that what was dedicated to broadband last year isn't enough to meet our needs, and both Republicans and Democrats understand that we need to revisit this topic again next session.
In the Minnesota House, I had few opportunities to vote for broadband this session. I supported legislation during a Minnesota House Greater Minnesota Economic and Workforce Development Policy Committee hearing that allocated $50 million to broadband, and also voted for the new law that ultimately allocated $10.58 million to the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program.
That grant money is now available for distribution, and I encourage cities, counties, businesses, non-profits, and other eligible applicants to consider applying before the September 15 deadline. Full details and application materials can be found on the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development website at http://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/grant-program/
Recently I signed a letter of support for a local company that provides broadband service to 6,000 rural residents in hopes of helping it secure some of the grant funds. If successful, the funding would be used to enhance service levels within its current wireless coverage areas. . . .
We're glad to see that Miller has changed his heart, discovering something other than just pushing to re-open a private prison in Appleton that's owned by a corporation with headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, where the profits gained from keep people in prison would flow.
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AFSCME will fight this with every tool at our disposal. Private corporations shouldn't profit from human incarceration. Corrections is a core function of government.
AFSCME Council 5 is considered a close ally to Governor Mark Dayton, as its October 2009 endorsement of the maverick candidate--who did not seek DFL endorsement at the party's 2010 convention--gave the veteran political leader's campaign a boost.
Swift County Monitor: Board voted 4-1 to hire PR firm for prison effort
Even within leadership in Swift County, there's a sliver of disagreement about hiring a public affairs firm to lobbying for the re-opening of the prison, the Swift County Monitor reported last week in County votes 4-1 to hire PR firm for prison effort:
Swift County’s Board of Commissioners voted 4 to 1 to hire Goff Public, a Twin Cities public relations and lobbying company, to help it persuade state legislators to house prisoners at the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton.
Only Commissioner Eric Rudningen, District 5-Kerkhoven, voted against allocating $10,000 from the County Board Discretionary Funds to retain Goff Public. Commissioners Gary Hendrickx, District 1-Appleton; Ed Pederson, District 2-north Benson; Pete Peterson, District 3-south Benson; and Joe Fox, District 4-Hegbert Township voted in favor of the expenditure.
Currently, the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) has about 550 state prisoners in county jails throughout the state, Pogge-Weaver told the board at its meeting Aug. 4. “The DOC doesn’t believe that is an effective way to deal with their inmate population.” The problem is only going to get worse. The DOC estimates that by 2018 there could be 900 to 1,000 inmates in facilities outside their system, he added.
To address the problem of an expanding prison population, the DOC will ask the Minnesota Legislature to approve $85 to $100 million in bonding in 2016 to expand its facility at Rush City by 500 beds, Pogge-Weaver said.
The county has further heard that the DOC will request further bonding in 2018 or 2020 for a second 500-bed expansion, he said.
With the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton vacant, our region has a compelling story for use of this existing facility versus constructing of new prison space, Pogge-Weaver told commissioners.
The results showed that offenders who had been incarcerated in a private prison had a greater hazard of recidivism in all 20 models, and the recidivism risk was significantly greater in eight of the models. The evidence presented in this study suggests that private prisons are not more effective in reducing recidivism, which may be attributable to fewer visitation and rehabilitative programming opportunities for offenders incarcerated at private facilities.
An earlier study in 2003 of prisoner perceptions of those opportunities includes a contrast of the actual services themselves.
The issues of "fewer visitation opportunities" is also a problem for securely transporting the prisoners to and from the prison itself, as Appleton, on the state's extreme western prairies, is not served by a four-lane highway. This aspect would remain for the Appleton facility regardless of who owns the campus, which originally a city-owned, non-profit private prison facility.
We're hearing that alternatives to having CCA operate the prison include having the corporation lease or sell the facility to the state. It's been suggested before. The 1994 legislature ordered a study, released in 1995, of the feasibility of the state purchasing the city-owned prison facility, which at the time could house 516 inmates. Pages 4 and 5 consider impact on visitation and the cost of the seven-to-eight hour round-trips to the Twin Cities (pdf here).
In 1996, the state representative then serving the area, the late Chuck Brown, offered a bill to have the state buy the prison; the language did not have a co-author or senate author, and Brown withdrew it within two weeks of its introduction in January. On July 25, 1996, Walter Parker reported in the St. Paul Pioneer Press article, "Appleton to sell prison it built":
The little southwestern Minnesota town of Appleton (pop. 1,500), which built a private prison six years ago hoping to grow its own jobs, is selling the operation after being in default for years.
But the prison remains open and operating at near full capacity, housing 508 prisoners from Minnesota, Idaho and Colorado, according to Warden Hoyt Brill, who arrived two years ago from Colorado with a contingent of inmates.
"We'd like to be around for a while and this looks like our best option," said Brill, referring to the proposed sale of the prison to Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corp. of America, the nation's largest private prison operator.
The proposed sale, for $22.5 million, is outlined in Ramsey County District Court documents filed by the trustee for bondholders who bought $28.4 million in Appleton city bonds in 1990 to finance the prison. The city loaned the proceeds to Appleton Prison Corp., a nonprofit firm that built and operated the institution. . . .(Nexis All-News Database, accessed August 20, 2015)
Photo: The CCA-owned Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton.
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“This is a huge economic issue,” [Paul] Marquart [DFL-Dilworth] said after listening to the stories. “If we were talking about these issues with electricity or phone, there would be a crisis in rural Minnesota.”
[House Minority Leader Paul] Thissen [DFL-Minneapolis] said he thought the next legislative session would address the needs. “There’s broad and near-universal agreement that we need to make these investments for the state of Minnesota,” he said.
It's good that Thissen says "near-universal agreement," because rural broadband isn't on the mind of one legislator who serves parts of Kandiyohi and Renville Counties, along with all of Chippewa and Swift Counties.
Miller embraces private prison, rejects public spending for rural broadband
In the August 12 edition of the Clara City Herald (no website, but here's the Facebook entry that mentions the article), Representative Miller talked about the past session and his priorities for the coming session in "Tim Miller reflects on freshman year in legislature." We embed the article below.
This is a curious piece, and not just because of the lede:
With this being his first year as a legislator, everything was new, but Representative Tim Miller of Prinsburg didn't necessarily find a lot of surprises. "There's a lot to learn, there's the whole committee process, different meetings you have, lobbyists who come to your office. We had the majority this session so there's the tendency of lobbyists spending more time in your office because you're a freshman.
He mentions constituent visits in the next paragraph; Bluestem hopes that the lobbyists lollygagging in his office didn't get in the way.
But not one word about broadband. Instead, Miller's been working on re-opening the Corrections Corporation of America's (CCA) private prison in Appleton:
He said they're hoping to get some more work done and go in the right direction for the privately owned Appleton prison. Miller said he's been working on getting that open again soon. "We're working with the state and I won't go into details right now, it's literally been just conversation but the good news is its [sic] conversation we have hadn't since they closed, so we are moving in the right direction, but it's a little premature to start spectulating."
We have heard scuttlebutt that one scenario is for CCA to lease the facility to Minnesota's Department of Corrections to operate under an AFSCME contract, one source suggested to Bluestem. However, even this option requires spending bonding dollars on a private facility.
Curiously, CCA and its ALEC allies have worked to increase penalties. Source Watch reports:
Since its founding in 1983, CCA has profited from federal and state policies that have led to a dramatic rise in incarceration and detention in the United States -- a rise of 500 percent over the past thirty years.[5][6][7] As of 2011, around half of all prisoners in state facilities were there for nonviolent crimes, and half of inmates in federal prisons were serving time for drug-related offenses.[8]
Studies have shown that for many offenses, incarceration has little if any impact on public safety, and that time in prison actually increases a person's likelihood of committing more crimes.[9][10]
According to the Justice Policy Institute: "While private prison companies may try to present themselves as just meeting existing "demand" for prison beds and responding to current "market" conditions, in fact they have worked hard over the past decade to create markets for their product."[11]
What exactly did Miller learn from those lobbyists in his office, educating him about the process and their clients' needs? Whatever that might be, he certainly wasn't hearing what those working for rural broadband were saying.
Some CCA donations to Minnesota campaigns might be trickling into Minnesota elections this year, Bluestem has disocvered.. Open Secrets's database for the Republican State Legislative Committee reveals that CCA gave the group two contributions this year ($10,000 on May 16, 2014 and $25,000 on February 21, 2014).
On Halloween, the Republican State Legislative Committee handed out $30,000 to the trick or treaters at the Minnesota Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund (first October 31, 2014 24-hour notice pdf here). The candy joins an earlier $250,000 sent to the group's St. Paul office (Pre-General Report pdf here).
Questions about the ethics of private prisons prompted the launch of the National Prison Divestment Campaign, with $60 million pulled earlier this year, Mother Jones magazine reported in April.
For now, the potential for re-opening the Appleton prison is creating part-time work for lobbyists and political operatives, none of whom live in Western Minnesota. Those small business owners and citizens in rural Minnesota? Speaks for itself.
Photo: Representative Tim Miller who says he had a lot of lobbyists in his office earlier this year. Apparently the ones working for rural broadband didn't register on the dude.
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The National Republican Congressional Committee is twitting 13-term Congressman Collin Peterson about his fundraising, but given his apparently lack of an opponent, the Blue Dog's confidence might not be misplaced.
Thirteen-term U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said Friday he doesn’t need to spend money to get elected to a 14th term in 2016.
“I don’t think I’d need to spend a nickel to get elected,” the 71-year-old told The Forum Editorial Board. “I’ve never been as popular as I am now.”
Peterson, who says he’s definitely running for another term as Minnesota’s 7th District congressman, was responding to recent National Republican Congressional Committee claims that his support is weakening because he only brought in $141,000 in campaign donations in the recent reporting period.
Zach Hunter, regional press secretary for the NRCC, called Peterson’s latest fundraising quarter “anemic” and said the longtime western Minnesota Democrat should retire before being defeated.
“After yet another bad fundraising quarter, Collin Peterson simply refuses to take himself off the retirement watch list,” said the NRCC’s Hunter. “Democrats are moving left, and Peterson knows full-well that he will find himself caught between a far-left liberal at the top of the ticket and Republican voters in the 7th District.”
In the 2014 election, Peterson beat Republican challenger state Sen. Torrey Westrom of Elbow Lake 54 percent to 46 percent.
We'll take Hunter at his word for understanding "anemic" fundraising, since Westrom, who was widely believed to be launched in 2014 as the strongest candidate to run against Peterson since Trix's grandmother was a pup, raised exactly $0 in the second quarter on 2015.
Photo: Minnesota Seventh District Congressman Collin Peterson.
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While the Ag Mafia and its allies have sought to frame the elimination of the Citizens Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as a victory for "Greater Minnesota," Quam's opponent is having none of that.
Indeed, it's one of three policy areas prompting her bid. PB political correspondent Heather Carlson reports:
A retired Mantorville teacher is launching a bid to unseat Byron Republican Rep. Duane Quam in 2016.
Democrat Linda Walbruch said after having spent 40 years in the classroom, she wanted to focus her energies on advocating for children in St. Paul. . . .
he said she was disappointed lawmakers opted not to make bigger investments in education and support DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's proposal to fund universal preschool for four-year-olds.
"The last session there was a $2 billion surplus, and I think we could have put it to better use," she said.
Walbruch also opposed the elimination of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Citizens Board.
"We need citizens to have a chance, to have a voice and appreciate their input and see what we can do to make it a better place," she said.
She is also disappointed that lawmakers failed to pass a comprehensive transportation bill with funding to upgrade railroad infrastructure in the state.
"With trains going through our community, we need to step up and make sure that our crossings are safe and our EMTs have access to those crossings," she said.
Minnesota House District 25A is the more rural and conservative side of a senate district served by state senator Dave Senjem. In 2014, all of the Republican constitutional officer candidates prevailed in HD25A, while Republican-endorsed state supreme candidate Michelle MacDonald beat David Lillehaug by just over three percent points. Statewide, Minnesotans disagreed, electing the Democrats. In the federal offices on the ballet in 2014, Congressman Tim Walz won in the state house district along with the First, while Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden won against Al Franken, who won statewide.
Will citizen power and environmental concerns be a Dodge County issue?
Despite the conservative leanings in the district, Walbruch may not be an isolated voice in her concern about the need for citizen voices in environmental reviews. Dodge County has been the site of contentious debates and packed houses for county board meetings about hog confinement barns, although the unit that is the subject to a lawsuit is in Westfield Township, which is represented by Peggy Bennett (R-Albert Lea).
Will the chance to vote for a pro-citizen power candidate make a difference? The conflict may not be enough to pull enough voters to Walbruch for a win, since a majority of voters in the district live in Olmsted County.
Indeed, Dodge County citizens likely have a complicated puzzle in having their voices heard in the legislature, as the county is split into a number of state districts--and Dodge County residents are a minority of voters in each district. The nearby presence of Rochester and regional cities like Owatonna, Faribault and Red Wing have caused the county to be carved up in order to create legislative districts of equal populations. In the Dodge County is represented not only by Quam (from Olmsted County) and Bennett, but Brian Daniels (R-Faribault), Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) and Jeanne Poppe (DFL-Austin).
With the exception of Senjem's SD25, the state senate districts (21,24,27) in Dodge County are held by Democrats. Aside from Matt Schmit, these are DFLers who have not demonstrated much other than thinly veiled contempt for citizens' environmental concerns.
Vicki Jensen (DFL-Owatonna) was part of the Senate Rural Task Force in which Senator Julie Rosen (R-Mendota) ripped a 320-acre operation in which one spouse farms full time as not being "real ag"; Jensen was far more sympathetic to Rosen's position on the Citizens Board than to citizens who contacted her with concerns for Rosen's position. We will see whether or not Rosen comes out to campaign for the Owatonna Democrat next year.
Are these anti-environment, anti-citizen power Democrats vulnerable? Their chances vary in 2016, and their environmental records are unlikely to become significant issues, though their mileage may vary if fed-up environmental voters skip donations and their races on the ballot.
After being ushered into office by a 7-vote margin in 2002, Sparks has been re-elected by comfortable margins. Moreover, the district is known as a "presidential year Democratic" one; Barack Obama won SD27 in both the 2008 and 2012 configuration. It's unlikely the Republican Party and its ideological SuperPAC allies will invest much money there--although they did salt the earth on one side of it last year with mail about the new state senate office building in the drive to defeat Shannon Savick and elect Bennett in a classic swing district in the Albert Lea side.
Jensen is the first Democrat in many years to serve in the state senate; her district is more of a crapshoot for the DFL. Like Sparks and Lyle Koenen (DFL-Clara City), Jensen voted against raising the minimum wage, so one of the party's stronger talking points is off the table for her and the two gentlemen in 2016. As in Spark's district, half of Jensen's district was carpet-bombed by attack mail against a sitting DFL legislator, Patti Fritz, who loss a close one against Daniels. Attacks based on the new senate office building, and a large fine against the DFL Senate Caucus Campaign committee may resonate as well (Koenen's campaign may also be hobbled by this potential MNGOP & allies' attack).
While fiscally moderate, Jensen is a social liberal who voted for same-sex marriage, unlike devout Catholic Fritz. The strength of same-sex marriage as a flashpoint is likely to be measure by SuperPAC's polling and focus groups on both sides. However, Jensen was quite clear about her opposition to the marriage amendment when she won in 2012. Unlike Sparks' district, the district favors Republican presidential candidates; McCain squeaked by in 2008 within the pre-districting lines, while Romney won the new district in 2012.
We suspect that the swing races in districts that include Dodge County precincts will be targeted with Republican messaging that's about DFL self-dealing and the DFL pushback about its incumbents' records. Would a message about that stresses citizens' right to speak and be heard resonate? Bluestem suspects that we won't have a chance to learns, as neither party much sees Greater Minnesota apart from what one seasoned political reporter once called Big Rural, the lobbyists and associations with "Greater Minnesota" incorporated into their names.
Photo: Screengrab of Duane Quam. Quam ran unopposed in 2014.
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Hagedorn lost 54.3 percent to 45.7 percent, a comfortable victory for Walz but nevertheless the closest election the Democrat had since his 2006 election. Walz, 51, is in his fifth term.
Hagedorn . . . .earned the highest vote percentage (45.7%) against Walz since the incumbent was first elected in 2006. Hagedorn performed equal to or better than highly-bankrolled GOP challengers running in higher-profile races, in Minnesota and nationwide.
However, this was not the closest election Walz faced, as Montgomery phrased it.
That would be 2010, when three opponents kept Walz to under fifty percent. Randy Demmer took 44.05% of the vote to Walz's 49.34%. That 5.29 point margin is smaller than the 8.6 point spread between Walz and Hagedorn.
Indeed, Johnson and Wilson were conservative candidates; Hagedorn failed to capture much of the slack.
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GOP Rep. Sarah Anderson, of Plymouth, who authored the state government finance bill, said she eliminated the campaign public subsidy program because there are some Democrats who have safe races and use the public subsidy to donate to other Democrats’ campaigns. “I don’t think that’s how the taxpayers intended this program to be used,” she said.
This is a remarkable statement for several reasons. First, no candidate campaign committee can give to another candidate unless the committee doing the giving is terminating. Here are the restrictions on candidate committee giving from the Candidate Handbook, page 15:
• State candidate campaign committees unless the committee is terminating within the next twelve months ;
• Federal or local candidate committees; and
• Anyone who gives you money on the condition that you wi ll give it to or use it for another candidate
Perhaps Anderson could curry bi-partisan support by looking more closely at members of her own party who are giving away money to local party units in contested areas. We offer for readers' consideration the campaign committee end of year report from the Drazkowski (Steve) Volunteer Committee, embedded below.
Elected to a safe district, The Draz handed out more goodies than just the $3,701.67 public subsidy that he received; this money went to mostly county BPOUs (Basic Party Operating Units) where hard-fought Minnesota House races were taking place.
Under "contributions to political parties," on the Draz's committee report, Schedule B2-PTY, the committee reports giving $11,500. It gave $2500 to the HRCC (House Republican Campaign Committee), but gave more to county units, including in-kind contributions in Rice and Renville Counties for field workers. These field workers were deployed by the county units--but the big races in Rice and Renville Counties were the Daniels v. Fritz seat (Rice County) and Miller v. Falk seat (Renville County).
By way of comparison, Minority Leader Thissen gave $31,625, but none that went to local party units--only the state DFL and the House DFL caucus. His committee received $8813.95 in public subsidy.
The Renville County RPM contribution was the biggest at $6,952. Renville County RPM, in its turn, gave Miller $5610.
As we say, Anderson could be more precise and exactly cite legal contributions--and she could start closer to home in pointing to the places where the subsidies go.
Photo: Freshman Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, who got money from the Renville County RPM. The Renville County RPM got stuff from The Draz, who got money from the public subsidy program. Not that they're DFLers or anything. Perhaps someone can tell Rep. Anderson about it.
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Bluestem was up late last night watching the Minnesota House Republicans and their special interest allies pillage both our state's environmental and campaign finance laws. We'll have more on the former later, but can turn to The Uptake for coverage of the latter.
Minnesota mailboxes will likely continue to be flooded with campaign flyers, many of them negative, that don’t disclose who paid for them because of what Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) calls “campaign finance law loopholes.”
“The public deserves to know if you’re on their side or only care about the people who bought your election,” Winkler said, introducing his campaign finance disclosure provision that he said requires disclosure of “who is paying when you are trying to get somebody in office or out of office.”
After a tense late night debate, the Minnesota House rejected Winkler’s proposal on a 51-78 party line vote.
Republicans, who hold the majority in the House, blocked Winkler’s bill from being heard in committee and blocked it several times from being added as an amendment to other bills. Friday night was the first time it received substantial debate this session.
Winkler seemed almost surprised when no point of order was raised when he offered his amendment to the omnibus state government finance bill. He then proceeded to quiz various Republican members about letters they had forwarded to other lawmakers from special interest groups such as the National Rifle Association and Minnesota Concerned Citizens For Life warning that his bill is unconstitutional and prevented free speech. . . .
Read the rest at The Uptake. Weeks ago, we tweeted the word "winkler" as a verb to describe the Golden Valley lawmaker and attorney's skill at needling his opponents. Watch some world-class winklering here:
Photo: Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley).
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Just in case anyone had any doubts about the matter, Representative Tim Miller (R-Prinsburg) assured Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis) that he was not elected king of Minnesota. Thissen had asked Miller a question about HF564, a bill to fund long-term care for disabled Minnesotans after suburban Democrat Jerry Newton had moved to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
Prefaced by a fingerpointing brag about how "how when I beat one of your best friends" by 10 1/2 points " even after you went out and door knocked with him," Miller asserted he was not voted "King of Minnesota."
Here's the video of the moment:
Photo: Representative Tim Miller (R-Prinsburg), via Facebook.
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In a letter published in the Sunday Grand Forks Herald, Paul Lysen of Meeker County's Kingston Township accuses Democratic Congressman Collin Peterson of being a Democrat in his letter, Reject Rep. Peterson, a Democrat in Democrat's clothing.
Another version of the letter has been published in the Park Rapids Enterprise, another newspaper in the Forum Communications chain, under the headline, Collin Peterson is not one of us. More on that one later in the post.
Since Congress reconvened with an even more Republican cast, Peterson hasn't been getting any more blue of a Blue Dog, so we suspect with the district back on the national hit list, we'll see more of this purple prose and yellow journalism.
Representative Kevin Cramer (R-ND) sponsored H.R. 3, yet another a bill to automatically approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which would transfer the world’s dirtiest oil through the American heartland to be exported at an international shipping port on the Gulf Coast. Keystone XL would lead to a significant expansion of tar sands development, unleashing massive amounts of carbon pollution and threatening surrounding communities, ecosystems, and watersheds including the Ogallala aquifer, which provides drinking water for millions of Americans. Despite these real threats, Keystone XL would create just 35 permanent jobs and would not enhance American energy independence. H.R. 3 would short circuit the approval process, eliminating the State Department’s ability to assess whether the pipeline is in the national interest and the President’s authority to ultimately approve or reject the project. On January 9, the House approved H.R. 3 by a vote of 266-153 (House roll call vote 16). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.
He supported tax credits for wind farms and solar installations, but voted against the Keystone Pipeline and against permits for more oil refineries in our country and oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Peterson has always voted for the Keystone project. It's true that he's supported wind and solar, but it's peculiar to pit votes on petroleum industry policy against wind and solar, which are related to electricity generation.
Westrom encouraged executives of Xcel Energy to meet with members of the neighboring Prairie Island Indian community to consider increasing the number of fuel casks and boosting Xcel's commitment to renewable energy at the same time. The resulting law was enacted four years before former Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a 2007 law requiring Minnesota utilities to generate 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Westrom's bill also required Xcel to contribute $16 million annually to a Renewable Development Account. . .
Westrom characterized the wind turbines as "freedom towers." While support of renewable energy among Republicans has decreased since the 2010 GOP landslide, Westrom remains a centrist on energy policy; believing that a diversified portfolio of conventional and renewable energy creates jobs. He characterized himself as a "huge supporter" of renewable energy, including 2001 legislation he sponsored to mandate a 5 percent biodiesel fuel blend for vehicles used by the state.
However, since Westrom campaigned a lot on ramming the Keystone pipeline through, perhaps in these deeply divided times, Lysen inferred from Westrom's intense focus that Peterson opposed Keystone, regardless of what those dirty hippies and their roll call votes say.
Park Rapids Enterprise version: Collin Peterson, bond to be voting for Obamacare?
Peterson has held firm on two issues, the right to life and gun rights, which has inoculated him against kickback from voting the way Obama tells him to on other issues–like supporting Obamacare.
Peterson has held firm on two issues, the right to life and gun rights, and this has inoculated him against kickback from voting the way Obama tells him to on other issues.
As Republicans are quick to remind, U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, one of 34 Democrats to oppose the Affordable Care Act in 2010, has voted against every full repeal bill the House has considered since the GOP took control in 2011.
He has, however, sided with the party on half of the 50-some Obamacare bills they’ve voted on over the last three years, including all of them since October.
Not that he’s keeping track. In fact, Peterson said his votes since last fall are only “somewhat” related to what the GOP is actually bringing up. . . . .
But Peterson’s record on GOP-led Obamacare votes over the last three years reflects his still-dim opinion of the law as a whole. And while he doesn’t have anything nice to say about how President Obama or Democrats are handling the law’s roll-out, he said he’s not going to back a GOP repeal bill unless it maintains the several parts of the law he does like, something he acknowledges is unlikely to ever happen.
A full repeal bill “repeals pre-existing conditions, it repeals all the good stuff, kids on their parents’ policies, the Medicare donut hole … by doing that, you’re getting rid of the good stuff,” he said. “So why are we doing that?” . ..
After looking at Henry's article and the attached list of Peterson's votes, we can see why the editors at the Grand Forks Herald threw that final prepositional phrase in the trash can.
But on Planet Lysen, Park Rapids Enterprise version, Peterson is supporting something evil than universal health care: the separation of church and state.
Park Rapids Enterprise version: anti-Christian bigots endorse Peterson
Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) also endorses him with a glowing 100 percent rating. These are the same anti-Christian bigots who conspire to drive Jesus Christ out of our politics, laws, schools, and public displays.
Collin Peterson apparently agrees with their atheistic goals, but I doubt that many people in the 7th District do.
The word "hack" is also added to the last sentence:
Why should we continue to return this man to office time after time? Wake up, people, and kick this hack Democrat out!
Americans United for Separation of Church and State doesn't make endorsements; moreover, in 2014, only Keith Ellison was rated 100 percent by AU; like the rest of the Minnesota House delegation, Peterson was ranked 0 percent, according to the data available for the group on Project Vote Smart.
Perhaps Lysen means the 2013 ranking, where Peterson was joined at 100 percent with AU's atheistic goals by those godless commies John Kline (R-MN02) and Erik Paulsen (R-MN03), while the rest of Minnesota's congressional delegation stood at zero. (Bachmann's score is now omitted, since she's left office).
We'll presume that the Grand Forks Herald edited this erroneous copy out of the letter; it's unfortunate that it couldn't do the same for the misinformation about Peterson's Keystone votes. Let's hope that the Forum Communications papers that
As far as we can tell, the last time a sitting Minnesota congressman was accused of sharing the goals of atheists was around 1920, when Rev. Ole Juulson Kvale made such claims against bluenosed Gopher Andrew Volstead. That worked out well.
Lysen is no stranger to the ranks of outspoken Republicans in West Central Minnesota, though we don't anticipate him following in Ole Kvale's trailblazing path or Congressman Emmer's mellowing.
In a May 2103 letter to the Litchfield Independent Review, Why did Broman tell Republicans to cave on gay marriage? he attacked the paper's editor while making some rather eccentric claims about what supporters of marriage equality want:
Andrew Broman really stepped in it this time. Why would he tell Republicans to cave on gay marriage ("Democrats spring gay marriage trap," March 7)? Is he really trying to improve their chances of winning elections or is he trying to deceive them into giving up the fight against Democrat ideology? He has earlier attacked Republicans for advancing the Voter ID amendment, claiming that it was “antithetical to democracy.” What he really meant to say was that it was antithetical to Democrats. Broman was helping to preserve their right to lie and cheat their way to election victories.
So, the question remains, why is Broman telling Republicans to give up on opposing gay marriage? The same reason any Democrat would — to grant legitimacy to any and all perversions that Democrat voters choose to engage in. After all, we have to be enlightened and progressive and free from Christian prejudices. We must allow man-boy marriages, man-animal marriages, and man-inflatable doll marriages!
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?” (Mark 8:36.) Most of us Republicans are Christians first and conservatives second. Every Republican caucus, convention, and meeting I have attended starts out with prayer. We do not intend to hide our belief in God under a basket when we go out into the world. Atheists, humanists, evolutionists, Muslims, and earth-worshippers don’t. God is real, and we take His dictates seriously. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Jesus said so. Why should we deny that to win a few votes from Democrats?
Grant the homosexuals their demands and what will happen? Pastors who preach from the Bible about homosexual unions will be hauled into court for hate crimes. Schools will be required to teach that homosexual unions are normal and honorable. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, and whatever else, will demand special rights as protected groups.
Faith in God guides our conservatism, as it did the country’s founders. They knew that all humans are fallen. Give men power over others and they will abuse it. The founders’ solution was to keep government close to the governed. The states were free to decide their own matters while the federal government, with three countervailing branches, was to be held in check by the Constitution. If a citizen disagreed with the policies of one state, they were free to move to another. This is what conservatives stand for.
Broman has proclaimed that the “Republican leadership ought to prohibit Bible-thumping within its ranks” and “rediscover the true meaning of conservatism.” I doubt that he really cares about the true meaning of conservatism. Clearly, he isn’t a conservative himself since his interest is not in helping the cause of conservatism but in undermining it.
Well then. The man-inflatable doll marriage talking point is a new one on us. We also appreciate Christian soldier Lysen giving himself a waiver on that commandment about not bearing false witness. Perhaps a higher power is a-okay on misrepresenting Peterson's dirty energy votes on the Keystone pipeline.
Earlier, Lysen had accused the Litchfield paper of supporting voter fraud, and repeated the old canard that felons voting put Franken over the top in the 2008 election. In his November 2012 letter, 'Our View' supports voter fraud, he writes:
Contrary to your “Our View” editorial of Nov. 12, “Republicans lost their way with voter ID,” you editors and publisher of the Litchfield newspaper were the ones who lost their way by joining with the Democrats to celebrate the defeat of voter ID. Why didn’t you question why the Democrats spent so much money to defeat voter ID? Clearly, the present “honor” system works to their advantage.
In editorials before the election, you agreed with the Democrats who claimed that voter ID was a huge expense that would be dumped on local governments. But, how much does it cost to flash an ID card? If it so expensive, why have over 30 states already implemented it? You also cheered the Democrat’s half-baked contention that voters would be disenfranchised by having to show an ID card. Well, then, in the name of social justice, why don’t you demand that drivers need not show police their identification or that check cashiers need not show their ID to the banks?
Your paper takes the Democrat view that there is hardly a smidgen of fraud to be found in Minnesota voting. Right, and how was it that the votes of a thousand felons (who are ineligible to vote) were counted in 2008 allowing Franken to come from behind to win over Coleman by 300 votes? Do you think we have forgotten this?
Minnesota’s present voting laws are a goldmine for Democrats to exploit. Scenarios where voter fraud is possible under current law include the following:
Registering up to 15 impostors on voting day by one registered voter. The same 15 could be vouched for in another precinct by another registered voter.
Registering in multiple precincts on voting day by producing expired identification cards such as an old driver’s license.
Registering in advance in multiple precincts and going from precinct to precinct on voting day.
Voting by felons.
Voting by illegal aliens (since proof of citizenship is not required).
Double voting by college students who vote in their college town and in their home precinct.
Voting by impostors who assume the identity of people who are dead or who have moved away.
These scenarios are more likely, of course, to occur in urban areas where Democrats predominate and where anonymity is assured.
These abuses would be curbed by a voter ID requirement. So why does your newspaper criticize Republicans for supporting voter ID? You should be applauding Republicans such as our Sen. Scott Newman for trying to bring integrity to the election process. Why should you want to conspire with the Democrats to preserve a tool they can use to win every close election held in this state? Just what is your agenda here in Meeker County?
Lysen can invent as many likely scenarios as he wishes, but there's little evidence any of that has been happening.
Finally, the Kingston Township activist was among those who supported a 2014 Meeker County Republican resolution to immediately impeach President Obama, the Litchfield paper reported:
“I think it’s time we have it on record that we should impeach him,” said Kingston Township resident Paul Lysen, one of about 30 delegates to attend the convention in Litchfield.
The resolution states, “President Barack Hussein Obama has abused his office and acted in defiance and violation of the Constitution. He must be impeached immediately.”
No delegate attending Saturday’s convention voiced opposition to the impeachment resolution.
Several other resolutions also received widespread support, including one relating to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. That resolution calls for the prosecution of former State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton for “countermanding the defense of the Benghazi consulate against the attack from Islamic jihadists.”
A total of eight resolutions were adopted Saturday, and party organizers said the resolutions will be submitted to the Minnesota GOP State Convention, scheduled to take place May 30 in Rochester, for possible inclusion in the party’s platform.
The only resolution to fail Saturday accuses the Democratic Party and mainstream media of engaging in a “conspiracy of lies.” “The Democrat Party and the mainstream media have engaged in a conspiracy of lies to defraud the American people,” the resolution states. “They constitute a criminal conspiracy and must be prosecuted under racketeering laws.”
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The audio of the second half of Thursday's meeting of the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee's hearing on HF1394 (Fabian), a bill to gut the power of Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Citizens' Board, hasn't been posted as we write this.
If you listen to those supporting the bill, the delay of a single large farm by the board has brought Minnesota's dairy industry to its knees, a Cowpocalypse Now.
Talk about downer cattle.
But the melodrama of their position becomes apparently the more one learns. Mohr reports:
When a large dairy farm sought to expand its operations in western Minnesota last year, the Pollution Control Agency’s Citizens’ Board voted against the recommendations of PCA staff and required an in-depth Environmental Impact Statement of the project before it could move forward.
For Kathy DeBuhr, a farmer who lives near Chokio and a mile from the proposed feedlot, that decision meant a reprieve from the truck traffic, dust and other negative environmental impacts she says she’s experienced from a similar operation 6 miles away. For others, however, the ruling demonstrates the uncommon power this nine-member board has to delay or derail projects on the verge of approval after months, sometimes years, of work.
The House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee heard testimony Thursday on a bill that would strip away much of that power. . . .
However, Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Mpls) said he found that unease puzzling because “if there’s one thing that’s certain based on the record of the Citizens’ Board and the PCA, it’s that (businesses) are going to get their permit.”
Hornstein said he had counted two times in the past eight years when the board may have denied a permit.
“This is a solution in search of a problem,” he said. “We don’t have permits being denied on a regular basis. We don’t have environmental review being ordered on a regular basis. … I’m puzzled by the need for this.”
DeBuhr said the Citizens’ Board was the only place she felt as though her concerns were heard and represented.
“I urge you not to remove the power from the Citizens’ Board,” DeBuhr said. “They are looking out for me.”
Thom Petersen, Minnesota Farmers Union director of government relations, said his organization was opposed to the bill because much of the concern was due to only one situation.
“We do not feel the system is broken,” Petersen said. . . .
From the way that the video (embedded at the bottom of the post) starts, one might think that Peder Larson, who Mohr reports was MPCA commissioner back in the 1990s (Linked In says 1996-1998, during the Carlson years) was representing the agency, just one might think that the Dayton Administration supports the bill when Chair McNamara reads an executive order calling for review of the Citizens Board from 2012.
That's why Bluestem thinks it's a good thing to first post the testimony of the MPCA deputy commissioner who testified on behalf of the executive branch. (Peder Larson is also a lobbyist for mining companies and others, but was so not there for his clients. He was playing an MPCA commissioner on TV instead)
While Fabian and McNamara don't share our scruples, we think its important that the public understand that a lobbyist for the state chamber of commerce and a guy who was commissioner 17 years ago don't speak for "we," regardless of how many times the boys shared the pronoun "we."
Here's the full video of the morning part of the hearing. We'll post the audio of the late afternoon part of the hearing as it becomes available and we're able to process it.
Photo: The fourth calf of the Cowpocalypse. To
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All of the statements, opinions, and views expressed on this site by Sally Jo Sorensen are solely her own, save when she attributes them to other sources.
The opinions, statements, and views of contributing writers are their own.
Sorensen, editor and proprietor of Bluestem Prairie, serves clients in the business and nonprofit sectors. While progressive in outlook, she does not caucus with any political party.
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