We were patiently researching independent expediture mailing by Republican operative Ben Golnik's MN Jobs Coalition and/or its political fund companion, the Minn Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund, when an email came in earlier today from the Jobs Now Coalition.
Seems that the JOBS NOW coalition gets the calls the very similarly-named (but much more recently created) MN Job Coalition does because it doesn't have a phone number on its website. Just google it, gentle readers, and you see why those citizens wishing to get off the newbies' mailing list might get confused.
In our search, MN Jobs Coalition is at the top, while JOBS NOW is second.
The executive director of the JOBS NOW Coalition sought our assistance out of genuine concern for the younger operation. Apparently, Job Now was fielding other inquiries as well:
JOBS NOW Coalition is getting more calls than ever this season from persons who are disgusted by MN Jobs Coalition mailings, ads etc. But we just got a call from the Albert Lea Tribune who asked for someone named Ethan because he placed an ad against Rep. Shannon Savick for publication tomorrow but the credit card used to pay for it was declined. . . . (JOBS NOW Coalition is 30 years old!) The confusion is made even worse lately because when someone tries to google the organization, JOBS NOW comes up prominently thus adding to the confusion. We publicize our phone number, their site has no phone number associated with them.
We're not sure if it's the same Ethan, but this might be the guy that the Albert Lea Tribune advertising department was looking for.
Knowing Bluestem's passion for documentation, she also sent along a voicemail of another call--from an irate voter in Shoreview who doesn't like the group's mailings. Other than muting the audio where the caller gives his address, we've not altered the recording in the YouTube below.
In the spirit of good will, we also share the phone number that's listed on the political fund's registration with the public disclosure board so people know who to call about mailings and payment for newspaper ads. It's at the end of this YouTube created using the Shoreview voter's voicemail:
Since we do want citizens to be able to contact the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, we asked a friend in St. Paul to discover if the two entities were indeed located at the addresses indicated.
Our scout learned that there is no 90 N. Snelling Avenue, but 91 N. Snelling (or 91 Snelling N if you will) is a firehouse converted to an office building:
Here's a photo of Suite 120 (the photographer couldn't find 120-A, but we imagine it's there somewhere:
We hope this information proves helpful to people who want to contact either manifestation of the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, especially that guy from Shoreview.
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In a letter published on August 17, 2014, Julia Stewart and Linda Hamilton wrote the Times editors in Nurses back Dorholt, not Knoblach:
It's recently come to our attention that printed campaign materials from former Rep. Jim Knoblach continue to name the Minnesota Nurses Association in the past endorsements section. This information is misleading to voters and misrepresents the campaign endorsement process.
The 20,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association select candidates for endorsement based on their positions on issues important to nurses, patients and working families. This process happens each election season. While some candidates might be endorsed in one election season, they may not be in the next.
During the 2014 endorsement process, Knoblach did not respond to MNA's request to participate. Rep. Zach Dorholt, however, did respond and his answers showed him to be an advocate for nurses and deserving of the endorsement of our 20,000 members. . .
In a new letter to the St. Cloud Times, Carrie Wasley of the Minnesota Association of Public Employees (MAPE) wiites in Knoblach's tactics deserve scrutiny:
As the PAC chair of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, I am concerned former House Rep. Jim Knoblach used our name in campaign fliers — such as the ones labeled "Past Support" — which insinuate he has our support today.
This statement is misleading and offensive to the hardworking members of MAPE.
Our union represents more than 13,000 state employees. We hold elected officials to high standards, and we don't take our endorsement process lightly. Actions speak louder than words and House Rep. Zach Dorholt has acted in the best interest of our members. Dorholt has a 100 percent voting record on MAPE issues.
MAPE is not the first group referenced by Knoblach to boast about his past work. It is suspect that a former legislator would be toting our endorsement when he didn't bother to ask for it during this election cycle. Perhaps, he would have if he did not have an opponent who measured up to the 100 percent support Dorholt has on labor issues.
Voters in St. Cloud should take these statements seriously and ask themselves if Knoblach is willing to blur lines and misinform community members now, where will he draw the line if elected?
It's a fair question.
Image: Asked and answered about MAPE's name in the headline. Appears that Knoblach is hoping no asks questions about these claims about moribund endorsements by organizations that now support his opponent, incumbent DFLer Zach Dorholt.
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We've been reading the October edition of Esquire, which is dedicated to the pressing topic of mentoring boys and young men. We thought about the content when we read Jennifer Klun's letter to the editor of the Aitkin Independent Age today.
I recently read the letter about Joe Radinovich by Pat Williams, and I felt the need to respond. The idea that Joe Radinovich lives somewhere other than this area is especially incorrect to my family and me.
My son, Richard, and Joe have been Kinship Partners – a local mentorship program – through the Crosby program for over six years. They met while Joe was working at the elementary school and Richard was a first grader, at a time when he really needed another positive male influence in his life. Joe and Richard formed a bond that helped Richard work through some problems he was having in school.
After Joe left the school for another job, he asked a resource at the school if there was another way to be involved in Richard’s life. They recommended Kinship Partners.
In the six years since then, despite having jobs that require him to travel often, Joe has picked up Richard almost every week – and when he can, more than once a week – to go hunting (especially duck), fishing, spearing, swimming, snow tubing or sometimes just to hang out and play video games. Richard especially likes to spend time with Joe’s brothers, cousins and extended family, and he’s spent Christmas Eve with them for the last several years. Last spring, Joe took his nephews and Richard to the Minnesota Zoo and to the Capitol for a behind-the-scenes tour during the Easter break.
I’d be laughing at how ridiculous the accusations by Pat Williams are if they weren’t so mean-spirited and wrong. Joe deserves better.
. . . I’m a fourth-generation Cuyuna Iron Ranger. My family has been here for 100 years. I get my coffee every morning at a local coffee shop. When I can, I eat the same breakfast I have for the last 10 years at a nearby café. I swim in the pits, and I hunt and fish whenever I can on the beautiful lands we’re so fortunate to have in our area.
When I do leave town, it’s to fight for things like reducing the funding gap between the richest and poorest schools, boosting the wages of the home care and nursing home workers taking care of our seniors and bringing back our tax dollars to fund local infrastructure projects.
It’s an honor to be your representative and I’ll continue fighting as hard as I can on your behalf.
One has to wonder just who among the local Republican activists thought questioning his residency was a good idea.
Photo: Richard Klun and his Kinship Partner, state representative Joe Radinovich, on a youth waterfowl hunt, via Facebook.
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At a fundraiser last night in Montevideo's old Hollywood Theater, Pat Kubly, widow of Lutheran pastor and state senator Gary Kubly, shared an old prayer that her late husband had delivered at the
MN House of Representatives – Opening Prayer January 29, 2001 *– State Rep. Gary W. Kubly
Creating, redeeming and sustaining God, In the midst of this time and place, help each of us to realize that some lessons are difficult to learn. Help us in the midst of debate to refrain from labeling others that we might be relieved of the responsibility of taking them seriously. Move us to the point where we cease to see ourselves as right while those who disagree with us are wrong. In great wisdom, you have created each of us to be uniquely ourselves. You have given us different perspectives. It’s probably a lot to ask O God, but today help us to see even those who oppose us as having come to us as another member of the human family from your creative and gracious hand. Help us to grow in that same grace each day until we too can offer the same consideration to each other that you have first offered to us. In your strong name. Amen
According to the Journal of the House for the day, Speaker Sviggum called the body to order and the business at hand was mostly the first reading of bills and such. The only roll call vote was to pass a bill allowing federal funds to be used for the state's energy assistance program. The measure passed 126-0.
Kubly's passing brought condolences from many leaders who admired his honesty, sincerity and tenacity.
Last night, there was admiration for all that, but just as much, people were missing his work as a consensus builder and his dry wit. Senator Lyle Koenen, how now holds the seat, recalled that Gary was fond of explaining late night legislative sessions that seemed to go on forever by noting "Everything has been said but not everyone has said it yet."
The first time Kubly told us that, he correctly attributed the observation to Mo Udall.
*The text was dated January 27, 2001 in the folder of prayers that Pat Kubly discovered in her husband's papers, but that was a Saturday, we learned as we researched the context for the prayer. The House next convened on January 27, 2001 and the Journal of the House notes that Kubly, then serving the lower chamber, gave the opening prayer.
Photo: The late state senator Gary Kubly, via Lit Happens.
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We have regulations that are very difficult. We have a farm in Stevens County who was turned down by the Minnesota Pollution Agency for a permit.
That's not exactly what the Minnesota Pollution Control Agancy's Citizen's Board did at its August 26, 2014 meeting; rather, after hearing testimony from local residents and a townshop official, as well as receiving letters raising concerns about the project, the board voted 6-1 to require an in-depth Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Riverview LLP before it would grant a permit.
The Land Stewardship Project applauds the Citizens’ Board for this historic decision. An EIS will allow the proposal’s negative impacts on water quality and quantity, local roads and existing independent family dairy farms to be fully analyzed before the project is allowed to seek a permit.
The proposed operation in Baker Township would house 8,850 cows and 500 heifers, making it among the largest operations of its kind in the state. Riverview LLP is already the largest dairy-producing firm in Minnesota, owning several other massive operations throughout this state, as well as South Dakota. In total, Riverview LLP owns over 45,000 cows, according to a 2013 article in Beef Magazine.
Fortunately, the MPCA Citizens’ Board took a careful look at concerns raised by neighbors and voted 6-1 for an EIS on Aug. 26. Water quantity and quality were chief among neighbors’ concerns. Many streams in the Pomme de Terre watershed, where the factory farm is proposed, are already polluted. . . .
Concern about water quality isn't small potatoes in the Upper Minnesota River Valley watershed (of which the Pomme de Terre is a part), where many citizens have worked for years to clean up the river. Read the rest of Sobocinski's assessment here.
The board required an additional study before a permit would be issued--and the decision was so rare as to be unique. Moreover, the decision was not a result of increased regulation by the current legislature as Backer implies as he continues talking. Rather, the MPCA Citizen Board represents a long standing opportunity for local citizens to convey their concerns to their government.
To Bluestem, this seems a lot like the ability of citizens to petition the government, a very basic right guaranteed by the Constitution.
Is Backer simply bloviating on Republican anti-government talking points? Or is he suggesting that he'll strip the MPCA Citizens Board the ability to review permit applications--and the ability of local citizens to raise questions before the Board?
The large dairy operation, which owns facilities in Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska, has been turned back before on projects in Minnesota before, the Fargo Forum reported in a 2011 overview of the business, but at the local level,in Backer's home county:
The same year [2005], Riverview tried in vain to build a heifer feedlot in Redpath Township of Minnesota’s Traverse County, but were turned away because of local resident concerns about labor, odor and traffic. . . .
Also in 2008, they were turned away a second time in Traverse County, this time in an effort to build a new dairy. . . .
Read the Forum business news article to get an overview of the operation.
Here's the video, starting with his comment about the permit:
It's also worth noting that far from being hostile to agriculture, incumbent legislator Jay McNamar (DFL, Elbow Lake) is endorsed by both the Minnesota Farmers Union (which leans DFL) and the Minnesota Farm Bureau (which leans Republican). Perhaps they recognize something in McNamar's public service to agriculture that Backer cannot.
The back story behind the board's decision
To understand how Backer is muddying the water here, here's coverage of the request for additional review from a local paper.
About 14 Chokio residents traveled to St. Paul on Tuesday, Aug. 26, to attend the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency hearing at which Riverview Dairy was expected to be granted a permit to build the proposed Baker Dairy. The dairy would be located about five miles south of Chokio.
After testimony from several agencies, seven local residents, and Brad Fehr representing Riverview Dairy, the MPCA Citizens' Board rejected their staff's recommendation to grant a permit to Baker Dairy based just on an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW), and ruled instead that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) would need to be completed before a permit is granted.
The Citizens’ Board consists of the MPCA commissioner and an eight-member panel appointed by the governor and by the state senate. The board considers and makes decisions on various environmental issues, including the determination of permits and impact statements.
Charles Peterson, project manager for the MPCA, and George Schwint, MPCA feedlot engineer, both who worked on the Environmental Assessment Worksheet for Riverview Dairy, opened the hearing with a presentation.
Peterson explained that the proposed dairy is to be built in Section 36 of Baker Township and house 9,200 animal units. The EAW was submitted and reviewed by MPCA staff, who worked with Riverview Dairy in preparing it.
Twenty-four comment letters were received, six of them from government agencies and 18 from citizens - all requesting that an Environmental Impact Statement be completed.
The concerns brought up in the letters addressed groundwater supply, odor and manure management, damage to roads and wetlands, and the socioeconomic concerns that large dairies are driving small farmers out of business and driving up the prices of cropland.
Once the MPCA staff had answered the board's questions, public testimony was heard from John Kleindl, Nathan Burmeister, Kathy DeBuhr, Lila Anderson and Jodi DeCamp, all of rural Chokio. Those who testified have also spoken at hearings held in Chokio. Their testimony reiterated their statements.
Burmeister, chairman of the Baker Township board, addressed the committee and said, "We sent a mailing to our registered voters [about the proposed dairy], and 70 percent of them returned that they are opposed to the new dairy."
Jodi DeCamp concluded the testimony by saying, “The Bake Dairy proposal only works for Baker Dairy. The EAW does not address the socioeconomic issues in our neighborhoods – the effect on property values and farming opportunities, the loss of families who would likely move, the affect on property taxes needed to maintain roads. These are the major concerns of those who live there. There is no quantifiable benefit to the local residents if Baker Dairy were to be built. There are many unanswered questions. We encourage you to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement.”
Board members asked many questions about the existing dairies, learning that Riverview has two dairies in Swift County, about 35 miles from the proposed site, and in Stevens County there will be four – if Baker is built – each being about four to six miles apart.
In the end, the board agreed that there were too many unanswered questions and denied their staff's recommendation to grant a permit to Baker Dairy.
The board directed the MPCA staff to conduct a health risk assessment in the area to look at cumulative impacts on health.
The board concluded, “The proposed project does have the potential of significant environmental effects. The MPCA is ordered to publish that the project will need to have an EIS and adopt a staff resolution that says that the Riverview LLP Baker Dairy project proposed in the EAW does have the potential for significant environmental effects.”
If Riverview conducts an Environmental Impact Study, it will need to address specific areas for finding of facts, including:
The lack of observation well data. The permit for the well was granted five years ago, Need recent data, in light of more irrigation wells in the area.
Socioeconomic impacts, including roads, highway safety, land and property values and people leaving.
Impaired waters. The fact that Riverview has not lined up adequate acres to spread its manure is a factor.
What are the cumulative impacts of hydrogen sulfides from actual monitoring, not just modeling?
Extreme weather events needs to be investigated further.
The number of animal feedlot activities in the surrounding area should be further examined.
At a meeting with the Baker Township board on Monday, Sept. 8, Fehr told the board that it was unlikely they could complete the Environmental Impact Statement.
Map: The Pomme de Terre River watershed, via Wikipedia.
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In one of the more competitive Minnesota House races, incumbent Jay McNamar (DFL, Elbow Lake) and Republican challenger Jeff Backer (Brown's Valley) debated on Pioneer Public Television on Thursday night.
Here's the video:
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Note October 20, 2014: This post was originally published under the headline: "Brainerd voter objects to Severson's attitude about having non-express voters stand out in cold." As Eric Ferguson at the Minnesota Progressive Project posted in Severson wrongly denies saying voters should stand in the cold for two hours, on Friday night's Almanac, Teflon Dan denied saying it. We've added a Youtube that starts and stops on the exactly moment when he said it. [end note]
Martha C. Stenglein, a voter in Brainerd, writes in Severson's comments questioned, a letter to the editor of the Brainerd Dispatch:
In the Brainerd Dispatch's recent interview with Dan Severson, he is quoted saying “Long voting lines, particularly in the Twin Cities area, pose an obstacle for time-pressed voters” and that he would like to create express lane voting where those who obtain a state-approved identification card could go to a special line and vote with the swipe of a card, bypassing the normal registration process.
Well, that may sound dandy. But it is worth mentioning that Mr. Severson, in an interview on April 24, 2014 with Tim Kinley on Speechless, may have shown his true colors: "Now, if you don't want to do it, be my guest. You can go over to the side and wait in line two hours in the cold. That's fine."
That is not the type of statement I would expect to hear from someone who is supposed to be a promoter of civic engagement. I'll take an express pass on him and instead cast my vote for Steve Simon, who is a true champion of voting rights. Please join me!
Stenglein mentions the Tim Kinley Speechless interview; Bluestem has looked at it before in the context of judicial corruption.
UPDATE: Here's the exact moment to which Stenglein refers:
Speechless: Severson on judicial and election corruption
Most Minnesotans know little about the conservative "judicial corruption" movement; Tim Kinley, who appeared on the podium during Michelle MacDonald's speech accepting the Republican Party of Minnesot's endorsement for her state supreme court justice bid. We'll have more in an update.
Here's the full interview, which begins about the 12:25 time marker:
Stenglein is right to question the contempt that Severson has for those voters who might not have state issued ID cards; a secretary of state should respect the dignity of all Minnesota voters, not merely those who can avail themselves of an "express" voting experience.
It's also worth noting again that elections expert and Gustavus Adolphus College computer science professor Max Hailperin reacted to Severson's voluntary voter ID/express voting proposal in a GAC Math and Computer Science Department website-based blog post, "What is “Voluntary Voter ID”?
Screenshot: Tim Kinley and Dan Severson on Speechless. You might be after listening to the interview.
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A friend's ears perked up while listening to Blois Olson's interview of endorsed Republican Secretary of State candidate Dan Severson on September 24, 2014.
Asked by Olson about what he perceives to be voter fraud, "Teflon Dan" Severson recites his usual list of debunked anecdotes, then adds a new one at at the 25 minute mark:
Blois Olson: When you bring up this no-excuse absentee voting which is being touted this year, it's being used by candidates of both parties, any pitfalls you see potentially here that are concerning or that may cause some issues with this year's election?
Dan Severson:Yeah and I think, one of them was brought to me attention just a couple of nights ago, I was up in Sleepy Eye and a couple I had not met before came up to me and said, "You know, we have a daughter who was 18 years old when she last voted in Minnesota, that was basically eight years ago. She got, she moved down to Kansas. We got a absentee ballot to our house. She hadn't voted in these eight years and she got, we got a ballot at our house for her to fill out and mail in."
Well, she doesn't live in Minnesota anymore but there's a ballot that just happened to occur on their doorstep and I'm kind of going, how do they know this is her--
Olson: --Right--
Severson: --number one and how come all of a sudden this is has happened? Well, this is the whole "no excuses" early voting and there are lists that are out and the Democratic Party mined that list and basically said, "Hey we think that you should vote," and that fact of the matter is, she doesn't even live in Minnesota anymore.
Now what's the security of that particular ballot?
Severson's statement reveals a sweeping ignorance of Minnesota's absentee voting law, as well as a lack of curiosity about investigating why the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party would start mailing "ballots" to random individuals on voter lists.
No excuses absentee balloting isn't "early voting"
Olson correctly calls the new system "no excuses absentee voting," while Severson substitutes the phrase "early voting." The National Conference of State Legislatures explains the difference here, and The Uptake interviewed DFL Secretary of State candidate Steve Simon at the State Fair discussing how early voting would be different.
As no broad bipartisan consensus on traditional early voting could be reached in the latest bill to change Minnesota's election law, the practice was not included. AP staff writer Brian Bakst noted the most important difference in a June report:
Minnesota's absentee program differs than early-voting systems in many other states because the ballots aren't put into counting machines until the night of the election, and voters have until seven days before then to change their mind with a substitute ballot.
DFL isn't mailing out ballots
Much more revealing about Severson's willingness to embellish hearsay into accusations of voter fraud is the notion that the DFL is mailing out ballots themselves--and to make these claims on a well-known media figure's podcast.
In essence, Severson is accusing "the DFL party" with committing a rather clumsy crime--obtaining an absentee ballot for an unrelated person.
Did the DFL actually mail out ballots?
Reached by phone, DFL Communications Director Ellen Perrault said that the DFL had been mailing applications for absentee ballots, not ballots themselves. Update: in an email, Perrault wrote that "The absentee ballot request forms were mailed to current registered voters." [end update]
It is legal for others to distribute an application for an absentee ballot but the completed application for an absentee ballot itself "may be submitted by that voter or by that voter's parent, spouse, sister, brother, or child over the age of 18 years" and no one else. The process in the 2014 law is outlined here in section 203B.17 on the Revisor's Office's website.
June press coverage of state party's no-excuses absentee voting GOTV
Severson appears to be melding his confusion about an application for an absentee ballot and the actual absentee ballot itself with that Associated Press report in June on how the state parties will be using the new "no-excuses" absentee voting to get their voters to the polls.
Minnesota is on the doorstep of its biggest statewide election changes in years by providing more latitude for absentee voting and by giving political parties, campaigns and others the ability to track who has sent ballots in for counting. . . .
For the parties it's a way to bank votes early in a year with hard-fought contests for U.S. Senate, governor and control of the state House.
"Instead of the get-out-the-vote activities that used to occur in the last 72 hours and even the day of an election, we've now got a 45-day extension," said Republican Party Chairman Keith Downey.
Previously, people seeking to vote absentee had to attest that they were ill or disabled, were scheduled to be away from home, were serving elsewhere as an election judge or had a religious observance.
Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin said his team is playing up the no-excuse aspect in phone calls and mailings to potential voters. He hopes the eased access will help the party combat a typically steep drop-off in Democratic turnout in midterm elections.
Fraser said the identity of people applying for an absentee ballot isn't public, but data about who has returned one for counting will be. Political parties routinely run aggressive absentee ballot application programs, giving them a sense of voters who might possess one. The list would come at a cost and there could be as much as a 10-day lag in disclosure.
Still, it's a goldmine of data to party leaders and campaigns, allowing them to devote money and energy toward contacting people who need a nudge and lay off those who have already done their civic duty.
"It's a very efficient way of being able to take a universe and being able to really chase them down and make sure that they have voted," Martin said.
The DFL isn't doing anything new or illegal in sending absentee ballot applications to voters, though it may be using updated voter rolls more skillfully than the MNGOP in 2014.
The practice is longstanding (and legal in Minnesota). It only calls attention to itself when done awkwardly. The McCain presidential campaign was criticized in 2008 when it mailed absentee ballot applications with campaign literature, though most of the scorn came from suspicions that incorrect voting place information was an attempt to invalidate those voters' ballots. The McCain campaign cited bad data, rather than ill-intent, as the culprit.
Does Severson understand data base management and such?
The candidate's use of this story--it which he accuses the opposition party of criminial behavior--is all the more troubling because it reveals not only misunderstandings of the laws he would have to implement as Secretary of State, but of the technology that he optimistically offers as a quick fix (that nobody else ever looked into, no less) for all our voting issues.
From the express lane voting, to online voting for military personnel, to his latest "vote anywhere" proposal shared with host Olson on the Daily Agenda, Severson suggests that faith in technology will somehow make our voting more secure than shopping at Target or working for the NSA.
If only he understood the differences in ballot application forms and the ballots themselves (and the laws governing their distribution), Bluestem might tell our feline companion to stop laughing.
Severson faces DFL endorsed candidate Steve Simon and IP endorsed candidate Bob Helland in the general election in November.
Photo: Perhaps if Dan Severson stops talking about the election process, our feline friend will stop laughing.
Bonus question: Since the election is nearing, and military voters must request and mail absentee ballots to time for them to arrive by election Day, we have to ask once again whether Severson has delivered his Military Votes First petition to Secretry of State Ritchie and Minnesota House Elections Committee chair--or if he simply hasn't updated his website. The website petition still says that it will be delivered on September 11.
We'll be checking again on Monday with the intended recipients to see if it was delivered this week, or if the Severson campaign is entering Duffel Blogterritory.
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:
Teflon Dan Severson continues to wander around Minnesota saying outrageous things that the media doesn't boether to factcheck. Perhaps self-declared prophet Cindy Jacob's intercession in 2009 has finally taken hold or perhaps Minnesota's press lack the motivation or the resources to evaluate his claims.
"The secretary of state should serve the people, not a political party or entangled in legal issues as it has been several times," Severson said. "I want to bring this office back to its status as a national model as it was when Mary Kiffmeyer was in office.
We've seen and heard this nostalgic glance back to Mary Kiffmeyer's tenure as Secretary of State, which ended in January 2007, and think that it's time to review her record.
Severson is implying that the Kiffmeyer administration at the Office of the Secretary of State (OSS) was unblemished by legal wranglings or partisan interests. Is this claim true?
Kiffmeyer fought the law and the law won
We believe the notion that the Kiffmeyer-era OSS was never inolved in legal proceedings is enough to make a cat laugh.
Former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer was sued four times from 2000 to 2006 on the eve of an election.
In 2002, she was sued for refusing to send voters new absentee ballots after Senator Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash less than two weeks before the election. Former Vice President Walter Mondale’s name replaced Wellstone’s on the ballot. The Minnesota Supreme Court ordered Kiffmeyer to mail the revised replacement ballots (see pages 736-738 here).
In 2004, Kiffmeyer was also ordered by the Minnesota Supreme Court to place Independence Party candidates on the ballot in Candidacy of Independence Party Candidates vs. Kiffmeyer.
Also in 2004, the ACLU and the National Congress of American Indians were among groups that sued Kiffmeyer to compel her to accept tribal IDs as proof of residency and identity when registering to vote on election day. Kiffmeyer argued that Minnesota law prohibited tribal ID cards when the holder did not reside on the reservation. The plaintiffs in this case cited the Help America Vote Act, which allows individuals to present a, “government document that shows the name and address of the voter”.
In 2006, Sande says he helped American Indian tribes again when Kiffmeyer sought to disallow tribal IDs for a second time. This time, she cited a law passed by the Minnesota Legislature that outlined which IDs would be accepted when registering to vote – instead of what was listed in the Help America Vote Act. Kiffmeyer said she would not deviate from Minnesota’s law. Sande says Chief Judge James M. Rosenbaum issued a temporary restraining order and signed onto a consent decree ordering her to accept tribal IDs.
That's the legal wranglings--but there's more. The partisan part.
The Partisan
Some of Kiffmeyer's partisanship came in the form of actions to suppress or frighten voters (often those likely to vote Democratic, while other actions were purely partisan.
. . . Minnesota's Republican secretary of state, Mary Kiffmeyer, convened a training session for an apparently Republican-dominated group of volunteer election observers recruited to visit polling places as representatives of the secretary's office. The gathering drew criticism from Democrats and progressive get-out-the-vote groups for a variety of reasons.
First, as far as anyone could tell, no previous Minnesota secretary of state had ever recruited and deputized citizen observers in this manner. "We never recruited people to do poll-observing in Minnesota," says former DFL Secretary of State Joan Growe, "and I've never heard of it.
"The secretary of state has, under the law, the authority to let people go to the polls as representatives of the office," Growe continues. "But while I was serving, I didn't ever see a circumstance under which I needed to have partisan people--or independent people, if they are--go in and observe what the election administrators were doing. I have observed elections in many foreign countries as a polling observer, but I've never thought it necessary to authorize people from the secretary of state's office to observe elections in Minnesota." (Bert Black, the SoS's legal counsel, said last Friday that "I don't know" whether such observers had been used in Minnesota in the past.)
The love-fest continues between an ever-growing army of critics and the secretary of state. Two weeks ago, Mike Opat wrote an opinion piece in the Star Tribune that laid out the dubious achievements of Mary Kiffmeyer. The Hennepin County commissioner nicely summarized the complaints against Kiffmeyer that have become fairly routine in the last two months. He criticized her for rushing to implement a new voter-registration system under guidelines set by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). And he questioned her for sending out a weird terrorism-alert poster (beware of men wearing perfume and muttering to themselves) that many said would scare people away from the polls.
But Opat's scathing piece--the DFLer called her "the least competent person" ever to hold the office in Minnesota--contained a new and troubling set of charges. One of Kiffmeyer's less-publicized battles, as Opat described it, has been with the election offices in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.
. . .And, indeed, the dispute has left some observers alleging that Kiffmeyer hoped to suppress the vote in these Democratic bastions. Although some of the criticism emanates from her DFL adversaries, Kiffmeyer's actions have provided ample fuel for the controversy.
But even Republican Hennepin County commissioner wondered what she was doing, the paper reported:
Ultimately, the spat has transcended mere partisan sniping between state and local officials. Randy Johnson, an old-school Republican who chairs the Hennepin County Board, was left miffed, as well. "It's still not clear to us what she wanted from us," Johnson says, adding that he took offense at Kiffmeyer's assertion that Hennepin County was violating the law. "We weren't. She's the only one that thinks so."
But the discontent wasn't simply partisan In 2004, the paper reported in Some Things About Mary:
. . .The complaint is widespread, and surprisingly bipartisan. While fellow Republicans are reluctant to openly pillory Kiffmeyer, some are brutal in not-for-attribution remarks. "Nobody has ever seen anything like this. She sees black helicopters everywhere she looks and she wants to put up as many barriers to voting as she can," one lobbyist and fellow Republican says flatly. "There isn't anyone who deals with her who doesn't see problems. If this election doesn't go well, I think she's going to be in big trouble."
By American standards, Minnesota has an enviable history of clean elections with high rates of voter turnout. Kiffmeyer, however, has expressed doubts about one of the main pillars of the system, same-day voter registration. While she has not publicly advocated its abolition in Minnesota (which would amount to political heresy), she has advised other states that it increases the risk of voter fraud. While charges and convictions for voter fraud remain scarce, they are at the heart of Kiffmeyer's political mantra. As a result, she has also pushed--both successfully and unsuccessfully--for more stringent identification requirements at the polling places. . . .
That, gentle readers, is what Teflon Dan Severson considers court-free and nonpartisan.
Voters do have other choices for filling the office vacanted by the retirement of Mark Ritchie. Steve Simon, the DFL endorsed candidate, has actually gotten bipartisan legislation passed (and we mean really bipartisan, not a stray Republican vote here or there) to improve Minnesota's election system. He wrote legislation that moved the state's primary back so that military and overseas voters have a better chance of participating.
More recently, he passed legislation that allows no-excuses absentee voting, while reducing the number of people for whom as registered voter may vouch for their residence to seven (vouching is done to prove residence, not identity).
Simon's standard for a secretary of state is Joan Growe, who introduces him in this new campaign video:
Photo: A laughing cat.
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With the cancellation of the regularly scheduled September meeting of the exceutive board of directors of the Agricultural Utilization Research Insitute (AURI), the organization still needed to have its FY15 budget approved, along with three other matters
Purpose: The purpose of the meeting is to consider AURI’s FY 15 budget, an IT Services Contract, a non-disclosure agreement and AURI office lease agreement.
Location: Conference Call. The regular meeting location is AURI Headquarters located at 2900 University Ave, Crookston, Minnesota.
In compliance with MN Statute 13D.01 subd 4, as deemed practical, persons may monitor the meeting from a remote location. Associated costs of the connection will be billed to those individuals wishing to connect electronically. Please contact the AURI office for arrangements at 800.279.5010.
Those interested in monitoring the meeting from a remote location should contact AURI with the request.
According to a spokesperson for AURI, the non-disclosure agreement mentioned in the final resolution (14-17) relates to a private third party and AURI.
Photo: A beautiful cornfield.
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Tuesday's Fergus Falls Daily Journal and Brainerd Dispatch both published articles about former state legislator's Dan Severson's campaign for Secretary of State, but both did little to examine the claims he was making.
Severson, the Republican candidate for Minnesota Secretary of State, said on a stop in Fergus Falls last week a system called Express Lane Voting, along with simplifying the process for starting a small business are his top priorities.
Severson said his Express Lane system would verify the identity of voters, keep felons or non-U.S. citizens from voting and speed up the process. He said the current system, which allows unregistered citizens to vote if someone vouches for them, for example, doesn’t work
This is fascinating stuff, since Severson has said elsewhere that the Express Lane Voting would be voluntary. Thus it seems intended for the convenience of the individual voters, rather than as a fraud prevention measure.
Moreover, it's interesting to see Severson campaign in Greater Minnesota on keeping "non-U.S. citizens from voting" when so much of his recent work in the Twin Cities has been among immigrant communities.
Long voting lines, particularly in the Twin Cities area, pose an obstacle for time-pressed voters, he said. Severson would like to create express lane voting where those who obtain a state-approved identification card could go to a special line and vote with the swipe of a card, bypassing the normal registration process. The system he envisioned would be optional and cities and counties would have the right to ask the state for funding to help pay for the express lane. The former lawmaker said he sees the proposal as a way to cut down on clerical paperwork. Information needed to validate the voter's ID would be on the card.
He said no one would be disenfranchised by the express lane since it would be optional and voters could still use the old system of voting. He would also like to see poll officials have the ability to query databases in order to make sure people who use same day registration are eligible to vote. He said there would be cost to update technology to verify new registrants but it was worth it.
"What people want in Minnesota is a secure system," Severson said. "I don't put a price tag on that."
Like Severson's petition for counting military ballots first, this talking point has a certain glib appeal. The candidate presents his idea (lacking details, we can't agree that it's a plan) with an air of certainty that no one has ever considered such a thing ever before.
How unfortunate, then, that others in our state have been researching our voting process, making recommendations, and getting them enacted into law on a bipartisan basis. Severson, on the other hand, keeps repeating his idea as if it were the name of a ring in a Tolkien novel, without ever going beyond the introductory paragraph of a Cliff Notes guide.
Since the candidate hasn't supplied any plan worth the name since his endorsement by the Republican Party last spring, Bluestem feels confident sharing one such expert's assessment of Severson's idea. In What is “Voluntary Voter ID”?, Gustavus Adolphus math and computer science professor and a member of the state task force on electronic pollbooks writes (we reproduce the enitre post here)
My professional work lately has focused on “electronic pollbooks” – computer systems used for administrative functions at polling places, such as checking in preregistered voters and processing same-day voter registration applications. In particular, I served this past year on the Minnesota legislature’s bipartisan task force on this topic, to which I was appointed based on technical expertise. Thus, I sat up and paid attention when Dan Severson, in explaining why the MN GOP should endorse him for Secretary of State, cited electronic pollbooks as the key for his “voluntary voter ID” proposal. So, what exactly was he proposing? His web site doesn’t go very far toward answering that, but putting it together with some context helps.
In fact, his web site itself doesn’t seem to currently have any more than the phrase itself. But I found more at http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8065d0de9c27f3dca7f3fc823&id=7f4e2199ca as follows:
1. Voluntary Voter ID will result in expedited voting. If you are willing to scan your government issued driver’s license, general identification card, military ID etc., you will be able to access express lane voting booths.
The bill our task force drafted, which passed the legislature nearly unanimously and was signed into law, provides that local election administrators can use electronic pollbooks to expedite voter checkin and registration. Those are typically the bottlenecks. Occasionally the ballot scanner is. On the rare occasion that the booths themselves are a problem, it can be easily and cheaply resolved for all voters – all it takes to open up six more booths is an ordinary folding banquet table, a few pieces of cardboard for privacy screens, and a half dozen pens. I don’t see how it makes sense for the already overburdened election judges to manage traffic through two different lanes when all voters can readily be accommodated with booths. (Keep in mind also that some of the voters who would have the most physical difficulty waiting in line are less likely to have a driver’s license.)
As far as the specifics of what cards are scannable, the enacted law requires electronic pollbooks be able to scan Minnesota drivers licenses and identification cards. Military IDs turn out to be challenging because they do not have the same information. For example, they are lacking residence address. In recent years, they also no longer have social security numbers, so there’s no number in common with the registration database. However, to the extent election officials and their vendors are able to accommodate scanning other ID cards (whether military, college, or any other), the law permits them to do so.
The recently enacted law does not mandate that every precinct in the state would have this technology, because in most of the state’s thousands of precincts, there aren’t enough voters to make the expense worthwhile. Is Severson proposing that all precincts be equipped? He doesn’t say. If not, his proposal sounds a lot like what was already passed into law. Conversely, if he wants to mandate the equipment, that’s a major expense.
2. The scan will automatically verify with the SOS office citizenship, residency, proper polling place and the valid ability to vote. If an individual has a voting restriction for some reason, it will alert the election judge on site and prevent voter fraud. Or if the voter simply went to the wrong precinct, then that voter will be assisted to the correct location.
The already enacted law provides that the electronic pollbook will “immediately alert the election judge if the voter has provided information that indicates that the voter is not eligible to vote; … if the electronic roster indicates that a voter has already voted in that precinct, the voter’s registration status is challenged, or it appears the voter resides in a different precinct.”
So what more does Severson want? Again, he doesn’t make this entirely clear. It sounds like he thinks there will be direct, real-time communication between the electronic pollbook and the SOS office, and that this will allow some extra checking of such matters as citizenship. Our task force determined that real time communication was not possible in all parts of the state and would have detrimental consequences for system reliability and security. More fundamentally, the SOS office has no additional ability to verify citizenship. Much as you might want there to be some database to check and see who is and who isn’t a citizen, it just doesn’t exist.
3. In using Voluntary Voter ID, the SOS will better be able to maintain the Safe at Home Program, a special service offered to victims of abuse and others who may have a need to conceal their addresses to avoid physical or emotional harm. Because no verbal interchange will be required, all information is kept confidential between the election judge and the constituent.
Again, I don’t see what’s new here. As far as the Safe at Home program itself goes, existing procedures protect those individuals by allowing them to vote as ongoing absentee voters and by double checking that their address is not in the polling place roster. As far as the broader desire of other voters for privacy, even in a precinct without electronic pollbooks, there’s nothing to prevent a voter from showing their name to the election judge in written form rather than saying it aloud, and the scanning of cards is (as mentioned above) already part of the recently enacted law.
So, having considered Severson’s points one by one, the only really new thing seems to be the “express lane” proposal, which I don’t consider particularly viable. But maybe there’s more – something that Severson didn’t say, but may have encoded into the name of his proposal. I say that because “voluntary voter ID” already had an established meaning across the border in Wisconsin, where it was rejected. There, the proposal was that a voter could indicate on their registration record that they wished to be required to present ID in order to vote. At the polling place, the ID would then not be voluntary: it would be mandatory for those who had opted in. Is Severson suggesting this for Minnesota? It’s hard to tell. Hopefully the press will ask him. In Wisconsin, it was rejected because of the potential for confusion. In any case, it has nothing to do with the electronic pollbook technology that Severson has emphasized, and that was already enacted into law on a bipartisan basis. IDs can be demanded without a computer, and a computer can be used without demanding IDs.
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Leaders of a Minneapolis nonprofit that serves low-income residents used taxpayer money to pay for a celebrity cruise and trips to Palm Beach and the Bahamas, according to a recently completed state audit.
Along with the trips, the audit by the state Department of Human Services found that the nonprofit’s leaders spent public money on bonuses, golf, spa treatments, furniture, alcohol and even a personal car loan.
The audit concluded that the organization’s longtime chief executive, Bill Davis, misspent hundreds of thousands of dollars from 2011 to 2013.
“It was deeply concerning how the dollars are being used,” Chuck Johnson, DHS’s deputy commissioner, said in an interview with the Star Tribune. “These are funds that are intended to serve low-income people, and they are entrusted to these agencies to make wise decisions about using those dollars.”
. . . The unusually critical audit throws in doubt future funding for a high-profile group that doles out federal and state aid to low-income families for heating assistance, weatherizing homes and providing services aimed at teaching self-sufficiency.
As well it should be: those dollars need to go toward programs to heat homes and teach people to be independent.
Matos reports that other community action programs in Minnesota do indeed spend much, much less on administrative costs and more on programs:
There are 26 community action groups across the state. Administrative costs typically account for 15 percent of their budgets. Community Action spent 54 percent of its budget on administrative costs, according to the audit. Even more concerning to auditors, the organization proposed spending 68 percent of its total budget on administrative costs for the 2014-15 fiscal year. (emphasis added).
As Matos notes, the out-of-whack spending caught state workers' attention and that of the DHS auditors:
DHS’s audit office decided to investigate because of concerns by state workers over the growing administrative costs within Community Action. [Note: that would be Community Action of Minneapolis]
We suspect that the research interns at the Republican Party of Minnesota headquarters on Franklin Avenue didn't read that far down in the story and thus believe that there's only one Community Action Program in the state--the one that was the focus of the state audit and Matos' story.
And so the Republican Party jumped into action!
A kind friend forwarded us a RPM email blasted out Tuesday afternoon:
Corrupt or Clueless? Mark Dayton Was Biggest Cheerleader For Taxpayer Funded Nonprofit, But Now He's "Appalled" By It
An audit of a taxpayer funded nonprofit, Community Action, discovered corruption and misuse of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars by Democrat leaders on luxurious trips to Palm Beach, spa treatments, and even a celebrity cruise. (Star Tribune, September 22, 2014)
Amid the corruption, Governor Mark Dayton has been a huge supporter of Community Action.
Dayton personally solicited government funding for Community Action (Full Story)
Dayton formally declared the month of May, 2014 as Community Action Month (Full Story)
Dayton issued a press release just last month celebrating Community Action's 50th anniversary (Full Story)
Click on the links--and you'll learn that all three of Dayton's actions were not specifically targeted to Community Action of Minneapolis, but all community action programs across the state.
Given this fact, we're wondering whether the Republican Party of Minnesota is simply playing a bit of class warfare here.
Let's examine the links cited as evidence of clueless corruption, one by one.
Dayton personally solicited government funding for Community Action (Full Story)
The letter dates from 2011, objecting to proposed 50 percent cuts to the federal Community Service Block Grant program. In the letter, Dayton cites how 28 Community Action agencies and 11 tribal governments used block grant funds in 2010 to help 8,070 famiies obtain child care, 46.000 plus individuals to secure transportation, 4,695 people to gain affordable housing and 54,820 to obtain food assistance.
While the state only received $7.5 million through the federal program in 2010, Dayton notes that it helped leverage $500 million in other program funding , while enabling over 93,000 volunteers to donate 1.63 million hours of their time.
During 2010, Tim Pawlenty was Governor of Minnesota. Is Keith Downey suggesting that the state of Minnesota ought to have turned down funds via the Community Service Block Grant program--and that Dayton ought not to have fought against the proposed cuts? Did this money simply become a problem when a DFLer took office?
On to the next point:
Dayton formally declared the month of May, 2014 as Community Action Month (Full Story)
Once again, the declaration concerns ALL Community Action Programs in the state, most of which use funds wisely--indeed, their low administrative costs provide state workers and the DHS auditors the benchmark which prompted the audit of Community Action of Minneapolis.
Moreover, the proclamation was prompted by the 50th anniversary of the creation of community action program across the country, not the single agency that is the focus of the audit and Matos' article.
That being the case, the third point is based on a press release publicizing the proclamation:
Dayton issued a press release just last month celebrating Community Action's 50th anniversary (Full Story)
Has the Republican Party of Minnesota decided to decry the corruption in a single nonprofit, corruption exposed by state auditors doing their jobs, prompted by the observations of public employees?
Or are they joining Jeff Johnson in arguing that somehow the fact of the state auditors exposing the corruption at Community Action of Minneapolis is reason to spend more--on private auditors?
Or is this the Republican Party of Minnesota opening up a war on the poor? Or are they simply clueless?
For more about Minnesota's Community Action Programs, we recommend that readers check out the 2013 Annual Report of the Minnesota Community Action Partnership.
Screenshot: Minnesota's Community Action Programs, via the 2013 Annual Report. As the Star Tribune article pointed out, "There are 26 community action groups across the state. Administrative costs typically account for 15 percent of their budgets." But as far as Keith Downey and the RPM go, if state auditors have busted one program, they've busted them all.
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But the video also includes 14A incumbent Republican incumbent Tama Theis and her DFL challenger Dan Dan Wolgamott. MinnPost ranks this seat as a less competitive race:
With a PVI of 12.6, district 14A is significantly Republican leaning. The Republican incumbent TAMA THEIS — who won by a 8.1 point margin in 2012 — might have an easy race against challenger DAN WOLGAMOTT (DFL).
Wolgamott is working hard, but the historically Republican district would be a tough nut to crack.
Rep. Zachary Dorholt is a speck of blue in the sea of red that is Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s district. He is the only Democrat in Minnesota’s legislature from that conservative area. He was elected in 2012, which was a bad year for Minnesota Republicans. However, he did win by 13 percentage points — which was better than President Barack Obama, who outpolled Mitt Romney by just 10 percentage points among the same voters.
Despite numbers that seem to favor Dorholt, Republicans would like Minnesota’s most conservative congressional district to be all red again; several groups have targeted the race hoping to boost his Republican challenger Jim Knoblach to victory in 14B. Knoblach is a former legislator. He served from 1995 to 2006 and has been working in the private sector since then.
The two debated this past week on business-friendly turf — a meeting of the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce. They were on a four-person panel that also included Rep. Tama Theis, the Republican candidate in 14A, and her DFL challenger Dan Wolgamott. Chamber President Teresa Bohnen moderated and chose topics that were mostly of interest to the business community.
Dorholt and Knoblach found agreement on a few issues. Neither wants the state to mandate nurse-to-patient ratios at hospitals. And both agree that state regulations should not be “one size fits all” when it comes to dealing with businesses. Both thought transportation was an important issue. But beyond that, the two were on opposite sides of nearly every other topic discussed.
Screenshot: Minnesota state representative Zach Dorholt (DFL-St. Clould) deliveringhis closing comments the St. Cloud area Chamber of Commerce debate, via The Uptake video.
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We believe that our active duty military vote should be counted first and in its entirety. If you agree, please sign the petition below. This petition will be delivered on 9/11 to Mark Ritchie, current Minnesota Secretary of State and Rep. Steve Simon, Chair of the Minnesota House of Representatives Elections Committee.
Since Thursday was September 11, we contacted the Office of the Secretary of State (OSS) and Representative Simon's office to see if the petition had been delivered, as those signing it had been promised.
OSS Communications Director Nathan Bowie emailed us to say, "No, we did not receive the petition." The legislative assistant to whom we spoke at Representative Simon's office said that no petition had been delivered on Thursday; she was at the office all day she noted.
Curious, we emailed the Severson campaign to learn the fate of the petition. The campaign emailed back:
Hi Sally Jo, no we decided to do it next week right before they mail the ballot.
Did the petition get delivered last week, since voters could request ballots beginning Friday?
Apparently not. Bluestem contacted the Office of the Secretary of Statee's communications director; Nathan Bowie emailed back that "No, we haven’t received it."
On the House side, neither Representative Simon's office nor the Elections Committee legislative committee assistant received the petition on Representative Simon's behalf. It was simply not delivered.
This serial nonperformance raises a couple of issues. First, should we trust Severson to "count military votes first" if he simply can't deliver a petition when promised?
Photo: Severson and this missing petition at the State Fair, via Facebook. The plan for delivering the petition to the MNSOS head or Sorensen has need produced these folks
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Was Dan Severson running for Minnesota Secretary of State in 2010--as he is in 2014--or to be God's own non-stick cookware?
Just months before he declared his candidacy in October 2009, self-proclaimed prophet and New Apostolic Reformation leader Cindy Jacobs delivered "prophetic words" at the Deborah Company Midwest Convocation in Bloomington on Saturday, July 25, 2009, promising the Minnesota Republican that he could "to be able to say outrageous things and still have favor. I'm going to give you favor - I'm going to make you Teflon."
The Lord says that you are called to this state for such a time as this. It has been really hard but God says I will make your forehead like flint.
God says I will put my words in your mouth - because Dan I have called you like Jeremiah - I have called you from your mother's womb. You were given the name Daniel for this day and this hour. And the Lord says I'm going to open up a Cyrus who is going to begin to open up funding. You will be a voice for the unborn. I call you to be a father to the unborn children, says the Lord.
I am going to show what to do and how to do it. This day I give you favor as your treasure. You are going to be able to say outrageous things and still have favor. I'm going to give you favor - I'm going to make you Teflon.
CathyJo you are to raise up a greater prayer army. I have called you to be a warrior woman. The Lord says you must build a thicker wall. You must build a wall. For I have called the two of you to be like Nehemiah. To build the wall says the Lord
While it's unclears from the post that the Seversons were in the audience, some of the textual clues suggest that they might have been. First, Jacobs speaks of them by their first names, and the site editor Karen Krueger has added their last name in parenthesis. Earlier in the intercession, Jacobs mentions Michele Bachmann, but uses the congresswoman's full name.
Bluestem contacted General International by phone to ask Jacobs if she recalled if the couple were present at the meeting in 2009, but learned that Jacobs was traveling in Asia. Emails to Krueger and the Severson campaign asking if the couple were in the audience in Bloomington were not returned.
. . . To give an impression of how Jacobs thinks the world hangs together, here is Jacobs claiming that the lands of Texas are cursed with violence because they were previously inhabited by Native Americans who “did blood sacrifice” and “were cannibals and they ate people.” Fortunately Rick Perry’s The Response prayer rally in Houston broke the curse and “the land is starting to rejoice, you see, because of that prayer” (here is a more in-depth explanation of the kind of phenomenon she has in mind). Later she demanded that those with American/Indigenous heritage must renounce and repent for their ancestor’s sins, since that’s the kind of person she is. In Jacobs’s world God also sent prophets to Germany before the war to warn the Jewish population of the Holocaust, implying that if they didn’t manage to escape it must have been because they were unwilling to listen.
She has also plead the government to ban abortions because it “curses the land”. You want proof? In 2011 there were a couple of cases of large flocks of birds dying in some US states. Jacobs immediately perceived the reason: the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” made God send us a message (also here). It is a little unclear why God would warn us by randomly killing birds in Arkansas (there is no evidence that these were gay birds), but to a mind like Jacobs everything can mean whatever she wants it to mean. . . .
Until July 2012, Jacobs had a strong connection in Minnesota: her late sister Lucy Riethmiller ran a non-profit service organization, Life Resources Counseling Services, in Buffalo, as well as serving as the president of Deborah Company Midwest, which sponsored the 2009 convocation.
2012 caught her working hard to affect the outcome of the election, calling for half a million prayer warriors (through her United States Reformation Prayer Network (USRPN)) to make sure Republicans got elected by praying about it. One of the reasons they need to fight the current government is that, according to information that only USRPN subscribers have received, health care reform legislation apparently requires everyone to get an RFID chip implanted in their finger in order to receive health care. She has earlier prophecied that God is going to “sweep judicial activism” out of America’s courts, which is, I suppose, an example of a fractally wrong (http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fractal_wrongness) message. She also asked her followers to pray for the destruction of the separation of church and state. Here is Cindy Jacobs, being apparently dimly aware that some of her political suggestions may be controversial, trying to explain why even environmentalists are dominionists by rather feebly trying to redefine words.
1. Decree the mountain of the Lord will be exalted over the government mountain of Minnesota. 2. Decree God’s righteous government will flow into all cities and counties of Minnesota. (Isaiah 2:2) 3. Decree that law and justice will prevail at every polling place in Minnesota. (Deut. 32:4) 4. Decree that all corruption and illegal voting will be exposed. 5. Decree that believers will rise up, vote and choose God-fearing men and women of truth who hate unjust gain. (Ex. 18:21) 6. Decree to loose the bonds of tradition and generational politics so voters can choose freely. 7. Pray that believers in Minnesota understand their vote is a covenant act before God that declares their allegiance to the standards of the candidate, whether they be for God or against Him. 8. Pray at your polling places. Dismiss the spirits of corruption and confusion that have influenced the hearts and minds of the voters. Ask God to station angels there to protect the integrity of voting. 9. Pray for protection over the Voter ID Constitutional Amendment and that the people of Minnesota will have their voice heard. NOTE: The ACLU has filed a lawsuit challenging the voter ID constitutional amendment. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie opposes the law, so there is a question of whether he will defend it or not. There is also discussion that the legislature will not defend the case, alleging it will be too expensive.
Minnesota's voters rejected the voter ID amendment, as well as handing control of both chambers of the state legislature to the DFL, after two years of Republican control. (For an overview of Seven Mountain Dominionism, click here; Minnesota's Capitol Prayer Network, which Cathy Jo Severson once led, also espouses a Seven Mountain worldview).
Dan Severson had long made Voter ID and claims of electoral corruption a centerpiece of his political talking points. He was so appalled at the results of the 2012 elections that he threatened to move from the state.
Dan Severson stood in disbelief watching election returns.
The former Republican state representative and two-time statewide candidate watched election night as Fox News called the presidential race for Democratic President Barack Obama, and his mood got worse from there as an unexpected Democratic wave formed.
He did not understand.
“It’s immoral,” he said at the Minnesota Republican Party post-election gathering in a Bloomington hotel. “I’m in a state of disbelief. If that’s what Minnesota wants to do, I’m not a Minnesotan for long.” . . .
Well then.
The 2009 intercession isn't the only point where the Severson name surfaces in Minnesota's prophetic community. According to the 2012 Generals International Minnesota Root 52 Prayer Guide:
2007 CATHYJO SEVERSON - Jubilee Worship Center, St. Cloud
"I WANT Minnesota to be a Cancer Free Zone": March 25th, 2007 Minnesota is called to be a place of healing. God wants us in Minnesota and at Jubilee to steward healing virtues. I see a warehouse in heaven marked for the people of Minnesota. From that storehouse He will be giving us body parts and more. St. Cloud sits on the Mississippi and is located at the top of what is known as "Medical alley". St. Cloud is on the northwestern end and Rochester is at the southeastern end of Medical Alley. St. Cloud's destiny is to be a place of healing.
At the top of this state are the headwaters - Living Waters of Revival will flow (Baudette is strategic)
St. Cloud is on the Mississippi and in the strategic place to be impacted by that great outpouring. We need to position ourselves in faith to capture that revival as it is carried on down in the current of God. I see people coming here, Minnesota and Jubilee for healing. I see the map of Minn. Outstretched before me and people crossing over its borders and receiving their healing!
Heavens alone knows what building the Sandpiper oil pipeline in the Headwaters region might do to that vision of healing carried downsteam if there's a leak, but something we doubt Seven Mountain Republicans in Minnesota will raise the issue.
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While Bluestem Prairie was a strident critic of Carly Melin compromising away the original medical cannabis bill until the final product was among the most restrictive in the country, a story in the Duluth News Tribune about her Republican opponent suggests that there are limits to inflexibility.
The Republican candidate for Minnesota House District 6A on the Iron Range faces a civil trial in Itasca County this week after sawing his neighbor’s garage in half.
Roger Weber of rural Nashwauk is being sued by Mark Besemann of Iron after Weber used a power saw to bisect the building. Weber then removed half of the garage he insists was built, decades ago, on property that he now owns.
Besemann is suing Weber for $20,000 in damage to the garage and $20,000 in punitive damages. Besemann also is seeking a small portion of Weber’s land adjacent to the garage to act as a buffer to any additional actions Weber might take.
State District Court Judge Lois Lang is scheduled to hear the case Monday and Tuesday in Grand Rapids. . .
With a PVI of -38.3, district 06A is very DFL leaning. The DFL incumbent CARLY MELIN — who won by a 41.7 point margin in 2012 — might have a very easy race against challenger ROGER WEBER (R).
Photo: We're not sure that sawing a garage in half quite illustrates the wisdom of Solomon or something else entirely. Photo by Bob King of the Duluth News Tribune.
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Kandiyohi County has a better array of mental health services than many rural Minnesota counties. But there aren’t enough of them, and it’s still a struggle for people to obtain mental health services close to home when they need them.
Timely access to help, especially for those in need of specialized mental health services, emerged at a local roundtable discussion Friday as one of the key gaps in the region.
And change must take place sooner rather than later, a mental health case worker told the 75-some people present.
“We need this to happen soon,” she said. “We have people out in the trenches trying to help people who are hurting.”
Read the report about the session. Deep in the article, there's this:
Rep. Mary Sawatzky, D-Willmar, helped organize Friday’s session. She drew spontaneous applause when she told the audience, “I’m not trying to move the needle a little bit. I’m trying to move the needle a lot.”
While Sawatzky is a social conservative on marriage equality and reproductive health (unlike the minority party, where there are no pro-choice members and pro-equality members save one faced fierce opposition, the DFL House Caucus includes members who differ on both social issues), the special education teacher is a champion for education and mental health services in greater Minnesota.
Sawatzky faces a well-funded challenge from Dave Baker, who is running because he objects to gains Minnesota workers have made with wages and labor laws. MinnPost's calculation of Minnesota's most competitive House districts ranks this seat as highly competitive.
Sawatzky and Baker will debate on Pioneer Public Television's Meet The Candidates on October 9 at 9 p.m. The show invites questions from viewers.
Photo: Mary Sawatzky.
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After sharing the insights of the congressional candidates (three paragraphs for Westrom; five for Mills), the paper considers the wisdom endorsed Republican Supreme Court candidate Michelle MacDonald, lately acquitted of DUI charges:
Macdonald speaks on convictions
State Supreme Court candidate MacDonald was convicted in Dakota County on Wednesday of refusing a sobriety test and resisting arrest, but was found not guilty of fourth-degree DWI. The charges stemmed from a April 2013 traffic stop and led to a rift with the state Republican Party, key members of which were unaware of the charges when they endorsed Macdonald as a candidate.
In response to a question from the Pioneer on Thursday on whether her convictions would affect her campaign, Macdonald said no.
“I don’t believe they will, no. They absolutely should not,” Macdonald said. “Because I’m… fighting for justice. When you do that, sometimes there’s a lot of pushback, in particular... from law enforcement and even the lawyers and that kind of thing.”
Previous media reports indicate MacDonald intends to appeal the convictions.
As for the endorsed Republican candidates for constitutional offices, here's what readers learn:
Other candidates who spoke Thursday included Bill Kuisle, running for lieutenant governor, Randy Gilbert, running for state auditor, Dan Severson, running for secretary of state, Scott Newman, running for state attorney general and Dave Hancock, running for Minnesota House of Representatives. GOP candidate for governor, Jeff Johnson, could not attend because of scheduling conflicts. Also not attending was Mike McFadden, who is running against Sen. Al Franken.
Also rans and no shows. Heckova September.
Update: a friend shared this email from MacDonald about the Bemidji event and the Pioneer coverage:
Hi. It’s Michelle MacDonald.
Pastor Martin Niemoller said:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I didn’t speak out. Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out ----because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out ---because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me ---- and there was no one left to speak for me.”
This famous statement is about the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazis’ rise to power.
I promise you I am not a coward.
I was welcomed with support by the people at the GOP event in Bemidji, with a standing room only crowd where I spoke. My point was we talk about less government (which includes the third branch ---- judges --- who’s orders affect the lives of millions) ---- and the fact is we have virtually no private sector, and big government, when it should be the other way around.
All of us endorsed candidates present agree --- me, Dan Severson, Scott Newman, Randy Gilbert, Bill Kuisie (for Jeff Johnson) Dave Hancock, Torrey Westrom and Stewart Mills --- that we need to keep our stand for less government, and upholding constitutional and civil rights.
I felt overwhelmed with support from the people there, many of them who heard my speech at the Republican Convention. I have been campaigning since I walked off the stage.
The Bemidji Pioneer, Zach Kayser reported (even though I neglected to give him my “reporter’s oath” ---- but he got it right) when he asked me if my conviction would affect my campaign. I said “no”. My conviction is for Justice.
Because I am fighting for justice, I told Mr. Kayser, “When you do that sometimes there’s a lot of push back, in particular from law enforcement and even the lawyers and that kind of thing.”
He got that right too.
I will be at the following locations this weekend please stop by and say hello, I would love to meet you:
Duluth September 20, 2014 @ 5:30 p.m.
Congressional District 8 Fundraiser
5th Annual Reagan Dinner
Lake Superior Ballroom
350 Harbor Drive
Duluth, Minnesota 55802
Parade: September 21, 2014 @ 12:30 p.m.
Eat and Greet Applefest Parade
Appleton Fair Grounds
City of Appleton
323 West Schlieman Ave
Appleton MN 56208 [End Update]
Image: Talk about the elephant in the room.
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Just in from our local public television station in Appleton:
Pioneer Public Television has scheduled a series of debates between candidates for the Minnesota House of Representatives to air in September and October. The Meet the Candidate debates will be broadcast live from Pioneer Public TV's studios in Appleton. Viewers we be able to call in or email questions to the candidates during the hour long debates, which will be moderated by Morris area attorney Amy Doll.
To date, the following schedule of debates have been confirmed by the participating candidates:
Thursday, September 25
7:00 PM -- House District 12A
Jay McNamar (DFL) Elbow Lake
Jeff Backer (R) Browns Valley
8:00 PM -- House District 12B
Gordon Wagner (DFL) Glenwood
Paul Anderson (R) Starbuck
Thursday, October 2
7:00 PM -- House District 16A
Laurie Driessen (DFL) Canby
Chris Swedzinski (R) Ghent
8:00 PM -- House District 16B
James Kanne (DFL) Franklin
Paul Torkelson (R) Hanska
Thursday, October 9
8:00 PM -- House District 17A
Andrew Falk (DFL) Murdock
Tim Miller (R) Prinsburg
9:00 PM -- House District 17B
Mary Sawatzky (DFL) Willmar
Dave Baker (R) Willmar
Moderator Amy Doll
Other debates have been scheduled for the remaining weeks in the campaign season but the dates have not yet been confirmed by all the candidates. In addition to these House of Representative debates, Pioneer is using its new mobile studio to broadcast the first of the gubernatorial debates to a statewide audience live from the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester on Wednesday, October 1 at 7:00 p.m. Pioneer is also working to schedule a 7th Congressional District debate between Collin Peterson and Torrey Westrom for late October.
Screenshot: Viewers can watch Andrew Falk (left] and Tim Miller (right), seen here in their 2012 Meet the Candidates forum for HD17A, face off again at 8 p.m. on October 9. Their meeting will be followed at 9 p.m.,by Mary Sawatzky and Dave Baker, candidates in 17B.
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A letter in today's Aitkin Independent Age slamming first-term state representative Joe Radinovich should help remind voters in Minnesota House District 10B of Republican dirty tricks in the last election.
Two years ago where a candidate lived was extremely important to Democrats when they unmercifully ganged up on and hounded Chip Cravaack. He lived in CD8, even though his wife accepted a job in Connecticut and moved there with their kids. The criticism was as unrelenting as it was unwarranted. But then, dirty politics is nothing new to the DFL.
. . .Joseph Radinovich’s address is listed as PO Box 215, Crosby, MN. Property records indicate he does not own any property in Crow Wing County. If he happens to rent his domicile is that closer to Chip Cravaacks situation or that of Oberstar? Chip lived here and Oberstar and Joe were/are packsackers. Kinda like modern day carpetbaggers.
In addition to a residency question, Joe is employed by a government employees union. That on its face is a conflict of interest, he can act either as our representative or as a union employee. His loyalties are divided. He cannot put both hats on at the same time because the two sometimes conflict with each other. He needs to take one off permanently. . . .
First, the mailing address that Williams lists in the P.O. Box for the campaign committee. Had Williams had the capacity to look on Radinovich's official page, he would have seen an address in Crosby. However, a friend who works in the legislature recalled hearing that Radinovich had sold his house and moved to his brother's house in the district.
Bluestem contacted the first-term legislator, who said in a phone interview that he had sold his home in January.
Because of the significant drop in his income, Radinovich discovered that he needed to tighten his budget, sold his home iand and now rents the upstairs at his brother's home at 225 5th Street in Ironton. He registered to vote at this address for the August 12 primary.
Like other people who live in that part of Ironton, he receives his mail at a post office box, though not the campaign P.O. box listed in Williams' LTE.
Getting mail at the post office is a common practice in towns too small for home delivery routes; Bluestem's editor lives in the same situation in sunny Maynard.
Williams' concern trolling about Radinovich's home and job is simply false.
On October 23, the Brainerd Dispatch published a letter to the editor written by a self-proclaimed Democrat named Stephen Sundquist.
Sundquist's letter expresses disappointment with Joe Radinovich, the DFL-endorsed candidate in House District 10B, and urges "all true Democrats," a set of people including himself, to vote for a write-in candidate instead.
But it turns out Sundquist isn't who he said he is. He's actually a paid MNGOP staffer working for the campaign of Dale Lueck, the Republican candidate running against Radinovich.
A simple Google search of Sundquist yields the following (his actual LinkedIn profile has been deleted):
The DFL filed a complaint with the state Office of Administrative Hearings alleging that Sundquist's letter violates the Fair Campaign Practices and Campaign Finance Acts. . .
The complaint itself was dismissed because the law applies only to accusation against the candidates themselves, but the administrative law judge acknowledged that the alleged behavior was highly objectionable:
While the conduct that the Complainant attributes to Mr. Sundquist, if true, is highly objectio nable, it is not actionable under the Fair Campaign Practices Act. The Fair Campaign Practices Act does not reach every misstatement of fact made in a Letter to the Editor, but only those that relate to a candidate’s personal or political character or acts. In this instance, the only assertions contained in the Letter to the Editor that the Complain an t alleges are false pertain to Mr. Sundquist himself . None of the statements that were alleged to be factually false relate to the personal character of Mr. Radinovich, the political character of Mr. Radinovich , or the acts of Mr. Radinovich.
Williams' letter does accuse Radinovich of not living in the district--but as the Republican activist is not an official on the Dale Lueck campaign 2014, it's probably up to the newspaper to retract the letter as it contains information that is simply false.
That's not all. After Radinovich was elected, dubious letters kept coming. In early April 2012, the Aitkin Independent Age reported DFL files complaint over political attack:
The Minnesota DFL has filed a complaint against State Rep. Greg Davids with the Office of Administrative Hearings for false claims he made in a political attack against Rep. Joe Radinovich (DFL-Crosby).
In a letter to the editor in the Brainerd Dispatch on Feb. 22, and in the Aitkin Independent Age Feb. 27, Rep. Davids claimed Radinovich voted for a $3.7 billion tax increase.
Davids claimed Radinovich voted yes on Gov. Mark Dayton’s now-outdated tax proposal. In truth, the vote was on a procedural motion to move the bill from one committee to another where it could receive more public input.
“Rep. Davids is the longest serving Republican in the House and he knows the difference between a procedural motion and a vote on bill,” said DFL Chair Ken Martin. “This is politics at its worst and a disservice to the public, who has a right to know the facts about what their representative has actually voted for and voted against.”
Photo: Letter writer and Tea Party Republican activist Pat Williams of Aitkin, via Minnesota Public Radio(above); Joe Radinovich (right) on a Youth Waterfowl Hunt near Deerwood. He sure looks like he's from around there (below).
*Oscar, the supervisor at Bluestem Prairie's World Headquarters, turned up his freckled nose this idea, since there's no reason to buy the tuna if you've got the treats.
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:
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