Torrey Westrom's television ad may tout "our values. Honest work. Living within your means," but a new filing in the Watonwan County courthouse suggests that there's one plumbing bill that TSI Real Estate LLC hasn't paid, prompting additional action on a mechanics lien on a Madelia apartment building.
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:
It has come to my attention that my name is being used in a legislative campaign effort here in our area.
To avoid any confusion this may have caused, I would like to make it very clear that my support is fully behind Rep. Andrew Falk and Rep. Mary Sawatzky. I have been working very closely with both of them and very much respect the excellent work they do on behalf of the people in their respective districts.
Minnesota has made a lot of progress under their leadership. Better funding for our schools and colleges, property tax relief for homeowners and renters. For the first time in many years, pay increases for nursing home and long-term care workers. The budget was balanced without shifts, or the use of tobacco bonds, a very poor practice that would have our kids and grandchildren paying our current responsibilities in the future. Minnesota’s unemployment rate is way below national average, and DEED reports that last year we had a record high number of new business starts in our state.
Thanks to legislators like Rep. Andrew Falk and Rep. Mary Sawatzky , Minnesota is on the right track.
Sen. Lyle Koenen
Clara City
When we interviewed Senator Koenen for our first post, he graciously gave us permission to reprint the letter here after the West Central Tribune had published it.
Photo: Lyle Koenen (left) holding signs for Andrew Falk and Mary Sawatzky (third and fourth from left) during a summer parade. Koenen has been actively helping both DFL House candidates in Senate District 17.
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:
The Republican Party of Minnesota is taking flack from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Minnesotans for Safe Driving for a mailing in three districts that the groups insist utterly distorts a law passed in 2014. While no Republican in the House voted for the measure, it passed unanimously in the Minnesota Senate.
Safe-driving advocates and DFLers are crying foul over a GOP campaign mailing that portrays Democrats as soft on drunken driving.
The fliers were sent to residents in legislative districts where DFLers, including Rep. Zachary Dorholt of St. Cloud, Rep. Jay McNamar of Elbow Lake and Rep. Will Morgan of Burnsville, are facing Republicans in competitive races. The mailers claim Democrats are responsible for passing a law that weakened penalties for drunken drivers.
The law allows drivers with DWI convictions to retain driving privileges if they agree to pay for ignition interlock systems that require them to test their blood alcohol level before operating their vehicles, Minnesota Public Radio News reported. The car will not turn on if the system detects alcohol on the driver's breath.
The law passed this year with bipartisan support.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Minnesotans For Safe Driving immediately challenged the mail pieces in no uncertain terms:
Minnesota highways are safer because of the law, according to both Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Minnesotans for Safe Driving.
"The idea that the Legislature was being soft on drunk drivers when they passed a bill in 2014 which allowed those arrested and/or convicted of (Criminal Vehicular Operation) to have ignition interlock available to them is ridiculous," wrote Nancy Johnson, legislative liaison for Minnesotans for Safe Driving.
The article also notes that this is the second MNGOP mail piece this week to receive harsh criticism for distorting a law's intent and consequences. Earlier, the Minnesota County Attorneys Association denounced mail framing an amendment to the state's expungement laws as soft on criminals as "misleading."
The DFL House Speaker Paul Thissen said the Republican complaints suffer from false equivalency.
The Republican mailings, he said, mischaracterize the new laws on expungement and drunk driving. The DFL mailings, while they use attention-grabbing images, are factually accurate, he said.
Images capture, "people’s attention and it frames the issues up," Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, said, "What they are saying about the bills are false and misleading."
Thissen noted that, unlike the Republican mailers, no independent group has complained about the DFL literature pieces.
There's that.
Photo: Republican messaging on public safety.
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:
Bluestem Prairie isn't saying that Minnesota Public Radio's Brett Nealy's dispatch on the congressional race here in Minnesota's Seventh is lazy reporting, but we do think that Nealy might have researched and shared more about farmer Jay Nord's political contributions in his dispatch, For Collin Peterson, campaigns are no longer a cakewalk.
"Collin's been good for agriculture, but I think the feeling in the area is that 24 years may be long enough," said Jay Nord, a corn farmer who has known Peterson since they were teenagers.
Nord, who will be relying on crop insurance this year to cover a bad harvest, won't say who he's voting for next week. But federal campaign finance records show he donated $2,000 to Westrom. [We only found a $1000 contribution].
"Everybody in the neighborhood will know who I'm voting for," he said.
While crop insurance might prevent many farmers from going broke, Nord said falling commodity prices could help swing the race against Peterson.
"It's a bad crop, so farmers are in a bad mood," Nord said. "So that tends to affect their attitudes. So that's not fair to the election but that's the way it is."
MPR listeners and readers might be forgiven if they conclude from Nealy's copy that he's found a farmer in bad mood who has drifted away from supporting Peterson.
Alas, no. Bluestem doesn't know if Neely looked beyond Westrom's FEC report to querying the federal commission's individual donor database, but whatever the case, he's not sharing the information we've found there.
Westrom isn't the first Republican Nord has supported over Peterson. In 2012, Nord made two contributions to Lee Byberg for a total of $2000.00. He also contributed $500 to the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2007
Nord also made these contributions to candidates and committees Not Named Torrey Westrom:
So other than that, Neely has totally stumbled on a farmer who altered his political opinion because of this year's falling commodity prices and a sudden need for a change.
Heckova narrative.
Photo: Jay Nord in a combine. Via Star Tribune.
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:
The blog [Bluestem Prairie] also quotes Miller’s response published in the West Central Tribune’s online voter guide. It asked the question: More often than not on major issues, Minnesota government becomes bogged down in partisan gridlock. What is your solution, or is that acceptable?
Miller responded:
“Andrew Falk has never...never worked in a bipartisan manner. I have spoken on multiple occasions with my State Senator Lyle Koenen. We have agreed to work together toward common sense solutions to challenges within our district.”
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Miller said there is no implication. He said he was referring to a direct conversation he had with Koenen when they encountered each other during a summer parade in Clara City. . . .
Contacted by phone as well, Koenen said he recalls Miller expressing the desire to meet with him to see if they could work together. Koenen said he agreed to do so, but emphasized that no such meeting has occurred.
Koenen said his concern is that the statements about working together could be misconstrued to suggest he is supporting Miller’s candidacy. Koenen said he is actively campaigning on behalf of fellow DFL’er Falk, and campaigning as well for Rep. Mary Sawatzky, DFL-Willmar, in District 17B. He authored a letter to the editor published in today’s edition of the Tribune voicing his support for the two.
Miller continues to claim that he has an agreement with Koenen, but Koenen simply agreed to possibly meet to discuss the possibility. That's a far cry from the "I have spoken on multiple occasions with my State Senator Lyle Koenen. We have agreed to work together toward common sense solutions to challenges within our district" in Miller's voter guide statement.
Koenen is right to be concerned, and it's a good thing that the newspaper is working to clear up the matter.
Like many of the letters to the editor of the West Central Tribune, Koenen's LTE isn't online. We'll post a screenshot of it when we obtain a copy of today's paper.
Photo: Lyle Koenen (left) holds signs for Mary Sawatzky and Andrew Falk in an early summer parade while walking with Falk (third from left) and Sawatzy (fourth from left). Via Facebook.
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:
During the League of Women Voters debate last night, Dan Severson and Steve Simon sparred over the endorsed Republican's vaguely-outlined "express lane" voting plan which Severson had noted last spring might leave some voters waiting "out in the cold."
Simon: I I really don't support this idea of sort of a Lexus lane for voting or the so called express lane voting. First of all it seems to be intended to be a separate but equal system. All I have to go on is Dan's own words when he characterized it on a tea party TV show in the spring. He said 'if you don't want to show an ID, be my guest. You can go over to the side and wait in line two hours in the cold. That's fine.' end quote. I don't think that kind of sentiment has any place in the secretary of state's office. And it doesn't even make sense, in the sense that 90 percent of people have IDs. So wouldn't that be the long line? And wouldn't the people without IDs be the short line? I don't think it's very well thought out.
(edit)
Moderator: You would like to speak to that Mr. Severson?
Severson: Well, just about the separate but equal statement that Representative Simon had mentioned in this. And I don't think that's appropriate in this process because really what we're talking about is new ideas and how do we accentuate these new ideas, how do we probe into how we can make the system better. When we begin the race baiting of separate but equal the whole type of deal I think we degrade the conversation and we need to keep it above board. We need… Minnesotans are tired of confrontative politics and I think it's time to let's just talk about the issues without being incendiary.
(edit)
Simon: Well since it's early enough in the debate, I want to talk about the idea of incendiary politics. I agree it has no place in this office. I'm not the one, Dan Severson was on election night 2012, who said Minnesota's vote for Obama was immoral. I'm not the one, he was, who said last year that our schools in Minnesota, our public schools are teaching socialism to our kids. I'm not the one who two weeks ago at a press conference said that our commander-in-chief was intentionally, intentionally, that was the question, interfering with the military vote. That's incendiary. And that has indeed no place in this race or this office.
Rochester: Severson talks using Minority Liberty Alliance as a Republican tactic
Simon may not be aware of a case where Severson himself disclosed a cynical motive behind his organizing with the Minority Liberty Alliance. It's an interesting take from a guy pointing fingers about race in election contests.
In a 2012 Youtube of a Severson for US Senate campaign appearance before a group of Republicans in the Rochester area, Severson suggests that GOP minority outreach efforts are about forcing Democrats to siphon resources from swing areas as a means of “defending” the DFL base:
When [Democrats] see their area start to be targeted, they’re going to have to respond. And they’re going to take resources from Rochester. They’re going to take resources from St. Cloud. They’re going to take resources from the other parts of the state to defend these inner-city seats that they’ve never had to defend before. This is a long-term strategy.
Concern for the civic engagement of new Americans and citizens of color? Maybe not so much.
Here's the clip:
Bluestem also finds it curious that Severson defines St. Cloud and Rochester, both of which are increasingly diverse cities, as places that Republican "minority" outreach won't be engaged.
Photo: Simon and Severson at the Minnesota Secretary of State debate on Tuesday at Augsburg.
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 the Kerkhoven Banner and an online voter guide created by the West Central Tribune, endorsed Republican Minnesota House district 17A candidate Tim Miller implies he has discussed governing together with District 17 State Senator Lyle Koenen (DFL-Clara City).
Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Koenen stated that no such conversations have taken place--and that the only two Minnesota House candidates he supports in the November 4 election are 17A incumbent Andrew Falk (DFL, Murdock) and 17B incumbent Mary Sawatzky.
Koenen has doorknocked for Andrew Falk in Chippewa and Renville Counties, marched in parades with Falk and at a recent Chippewa County fundraiser honoring the late Gary Kubly, urged Falk's re-election.
"I've never had this sort of thing happen to me before," the genial state senator said of Miller's claims.
Miller implies Koenen accord
In a pre-election profile published in the Kerkhoven Banner (right; no online edition available) Miller told the paper:
"Lyle Koenen is our Senator regardless of this election. He's going to be our Senator and he's going to be in the majority. I've already talked to Lyle and said there are certain things that are important to our district and hopefully we agree going to work together for that and he agreed."
More often than not on major issues, Minnesota government becomes bogged down in partisan gridlock. What is your solution, or is that acceptable?
Miller responded:
Andrew Falk has never...never worked in a bipartisan manner. I have spoken on multiple occasions with my State Senator Lyle Koenen. We have agreed to work together toward common sense solutions to challenges within our district.
Senator Lyle Koenen's much different version
Koenen noted that the two House candidates he was working to help re-elect are Falk and Sawatzky, both of whom have been targeted for defeat as Miller's Republican Party of Minnesota attempts to retake the legislature's lower chamber.
Koenen tells a much different story about his encounters with Miller:
At one of the parades early this summer, he approached me and indicated that he was going to be elected. He said that he wanted to meet with him to talk about how we might work together.
He was doing the talking and I was listening. He said we should getting together for coffee to talk. I said, "Okay." That was the end of it [the topic]. We talked at other parades but never about this.
Koenen worries that readers will infer Miller's assertions are an endorsement on his part:
That's what I read into it and I'm concerned that other people seeing it might read the same thing into it.
Koenen is strongly supporting both incumbent legislators in Senate District 17, as he believes the team works very well together.
While the election letter deadline has passed for the Kerkhoven Banner, Koenen is submitting a letter to the editor of the West Central Tribune to note that while another candidate--who will remain unnamed--is implying that Koenen supports him, the state senator has endorsed Falk and Sawatzky and is working for their re-election.
"I've never had this sort of thing happen to me before," the genial state senator said, noting that Miller had not asked permission to use Koenen's name in campaign material.
Bluestem adds this episode to the list of peculiar claims Miller has invented. It isn't an isolated case of Miller talking out of his hat.
And that figure doesn't even include the price of Miller's pilfering of his own credibility.
Photo: Lyle Koenen (left) holds signs for Mary Sawatzky and Andrew Falk in an early summer parade while walking with Falk (third from left) and Sawatzy (fourth from left). Via Facebook.
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:
Via The Uptake, we'll be sharing live streaming of the League of Women Voters debate between four candidates running for secretary of state, Minnesota's only statewide office without an incumbent, tonight (Tuesday) at 7 p.m.
Candidates scheduled to appear are Steve Simon (DFL), Dan Severson (R), Bob Helland (I), and Bob Odden (L)
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:
On KWLM (AM 1340) radio's Open Mic for Friday, October 24th for Minnesota House District 17A Challenger, Republican Tim Miller said that the MN Department of Transportation's
prevailing wage structure is messed up. I know someone in road construction where they say when they're doing a private project, someone driving a packer gets paid $28 an hour and when they do a state project, they get paid $56 an hour. This is nonsense. We can save money in those areas.
We've made a Youtube of the statement and some of the factcheck:
While some special craft workers receive over $50/hour when benefits are added in Region 8, all of the prevailing wage base rates for workers operating highway/heavy power equipment range between $ 21.60 (for a sheepfoot roller operator) to $25.15 for "Group 2," helicopter pilots, crane operators, hydraulic backhoe operator and a few other peices of heavy machine. Benefits bump their total compensation to between $38.80 and $43.75 for heavy equipment operators.
If Miller's $28 figure includes benefits, he's asking construction workers building our roads and bridges to take a steep compensation cut indeed. In some ways, he's asking working people to pay the cost of building roads and bridges, without funding the wages and benefits that put these hard-working people into the middle class.
While 12 months at that hourly rate (if he's only talking wages) would equal $58,240, highway construction isn't year-round work; if the construction season lasts seven months (April-November), that's $33,971.
As the video notes, we discovered that not even "49ers" operating heavy equipment are making what Miller claims. A pdf of the Associated General Contractors' Labor Agreement can be downloaded here (downloads and opens pdf).
In the same radio debate, Miller deplored negative campaigning via independent expenditures by outside groups, even though he's shared some of these materials on social media and done negative campaigning of his own.
In short, this isn't a bug, it's a feature, as our tech nerd friends would say. Miller's using hearsay, rather than checking his facts before opening his mouth, and demonstrating his willingness to cut wages. We can only wonder what he'd do in hectic legislative sessions.
Photo: Highway construction, via MNDOT.
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:
Screenshot image (above): part of the banner on A Greater Minnesota's "Food Labeling" pledge point.
NOTE I: Anna Wills has contacted us to remove her name as a "yes" on the Right to Know campaign's list. It is corrected below and we'll be posting an updated pdf as well. Since we obtained the information in a spreadsheet distributed by the campaign, she has asked the group to correct its copy (our source) as well. We will be correcting the embedded document as well. [end update]
NOTE 2: We've updated our embedded pdf after Andrew Falk (DFL-17A) responded to a Facebook query by a constituent about the Food and Farm pledge. Like Republican Denny McNamara and other candidates, he noted that he does not sign pledges. Thus, we updated his status for that issue campaign from "Not On List" to "doesn't sign pledges, (Facebook response)."
Do you know of another candidate who has filled in a blank (as did Falk), corrected an error (as Anna Wills did) or changed position? Let us know via email.
Two issue campaigns are now underway in Minnesota ask legislators to support or oppose labeling food that contains GMOs.
The Right to Know campaign, a coalition of small farms, consumer co-ops, consumer groups and nonprofits, has asked lawmakers and candidates to support a state GMO labeling law.
A Greater Minnesota, a coalition consisting of the "Minnesota Agri-Growth Council, the Minnesota Pork Producers Association, the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, the Chicken and Egg Association of Minnesota, the Minnesota Milk Producers Association, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association and various other Minnesota farm and food entities," opposes state labeling (for coalition membership, see FAQ#4 here). It has created a five-point pledge for agriculture; the fourth essentially opposes labeling that tells consumers that GMO ingredients are in the product.
It's an ongoing debate, and as this document reveals, a number of people running for the Minnesota House this year have said "Yes" to both issue campaigns.
Those candidates are:
4A Brian Gramer (Republican) 4B Jared Laduke (Republican) 23A Bob Gunther (Republican) 24B Brian Daniels (Republican) 40A Charles Sutphen (Republican) 40B Mali Marvin (Republican) 47A Matthew Gieseke (DFL) 55A Derek Thury (IP) 55B Josh Ondich (IP-has withdrawn) 57B Anna Wills (Republican) 59A Fred Statema (Republican) 66A Jon Heyer (Republican
We suspect that some of the candidates above will want to clarify where they stand so that voters don't get confused.
Petersburg didn’t respond to A Greater Minnesota’s pledge request, but said that it’s easy for him to miss a few during campaign season. He said that he was “on the fence” on the GMO labeling issue and related the mixed public consensus to that of climate change.
Among DFL or GOP candidates running for state House districts that include part of Steele County, two of them didn’t respond at all to the pledge. That was Petersburg and Peggy Bennett, the GOP challenger in District 27A, a district that includes Blooming Prairie.
The Republican Daniels, as well as DFLers Shannon Savick and Bev Cashman, supported the pledge in full. Savick is running against Bennett. Cashman is up against Petersburg.
Fritz responded and supported all of the pledge points except for the one against GMO labeling. She said that there isn’t enough information to take a stance but didn’t pledge to oppose labeling in the meantime.
“I haven’t reached a decision,” she said. “I know the feds are working on it, and I think they’ve come further on some of the labeling.”
Cashman said she signed on in opposition of GMO labeling after researching the topic and coming up short of a solid argument for the other side. But she said that there’s reasonable concern on both ends of the debate.
Daniels is among those who have said yes to both (see pdf below), so he might want to straighten that out. And while Republican Bennett--in a red hot race with DFLer Savick--didn't sign A Greater Minnesota's pledge, as the Owatonna People's Press reported, she did say yes in the Right to Know campaign's candidate survey.
Pledge: Support nutritional and allergy-sensitive food labeling but oppose pseudo-science labeling proposals regarding GMOs.
Good Minnesota farmers and good Minnesota food companies support food product labeling that helps consumers make informed choices regarding nutritional information and food-allergies. We do not support labeling requirements, however, that are based on pseudo-science or activist agendas such as calling out GMOs (genetically modified organisms). The reality is most foods, even many organics, involve genetic enhancements to improve food quality and reduce the incidence of pests and disease during food production. . . .
In November 2014 we will elect our MN State Representatives. Do you want to know which candidates support your Right To Know? So do we. We sent out a letter to all candidates, asking their position on GMO Labeling and providing them with information on the key issues. Check out the Candidate GMO Labeling Questionnaire/Education, or keep reading to see what we asked.
1) Do you support legislation requiring mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically
engineered ingredients? Yes / No
2) If yes, will you be a coauthor on the bill in 2015? Yes / No
3) If no, what concerns do you have about the bill?
4) Do you need additional information you would like about the issue or the bill, H.F.3140?
Read more at the Right to Know site. According to the Minnesota House of Representatives website, H.F.3140 was authored by Karen Clark (DFL-Minneapolis), with nine co-authors, one of whom retired after the past session.
While the authors are only DFLers, candidates from all three major parties have indicated support for labeling to the campaign. Those opposing GMO labeling have also gained tri-partisan support, although two of the IP candidates have said yes to both positions.
Photo: Clip art used by A Greater Minnesota on its page about i's fourth pledge point. We'd have a little more confidence if the site designers had pick stock art where the model's hand isn't covering the Nutrition Label on the can she holds. Here's that lady shopping in 2011 in a Fox News post where the image of the hand over the label is a better match for content of the copy it's supposed to illustrate: Shoppers Pay Less Attention to Nutrition Labels Than They Think. (Perhaps that was the problem for the twelve candidates who said "yes" to both groups). A screengrab:
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:
Jeff Backer, the endorsed Republican candidate in Minnesota House District 12A fired back in a letter in the Morris Sun Tribune, Been there, done that?:
Mr. Schmid claims that he was at the Republican endorsing convention in March and saw first-hand what went on. The odd part is there is no written record of him being there. The Republicans still have the records and his name is conspicuously absent. To attend, you have to sign in at the door of the convention. So if he was “actively involved with the Republicans,” why didn’t he sign in and follow the rules of the convention?
If he really was there, Mr. Schmid also seems to have a case of “selective or edited hearing” of the events during the convention. Traditional marriage was brought up and I said I would support legislation to repeal gay marriage. Traditional marriage is dear to the hearts of the majority of 12A, and I share this sentiment. For that reason and others, I’ll be a good representative. I never promised that this would be “the issue” of my campaign. . . .
Schmid has posted the letter on his Facebook page (screenshot above) with this headnote:
Jeff Backer, candidate for State Representative, responded to my Letter to the Editor in the Morris Sun Tribune (see link below). His letter further demonstrates why he is the wrong person to represent District 12A in the state legislature. Rather than responding to the issue I raised (the question of what his priorities really are), he instead insinuated that I lied about my attendance at the Republican endorsing convention, suggested that I am not actively involved in the Republican Party of Minnesota, and accused me of having "selective or edited hearing." For the record, I did attend the endorsing convention in support of Nancy Taffe, I have been actively involved in the Republican Party of Minnesota since 2008, and what I heard at the convention was neither "selective" nor "edited". It is disheartening that Backer, who hopes to represent us in St. Paul, would make a blatantly false, personal attack against me and once again ignore the most pressing issues facing our district. To all my Morris friends, please, from the bottom of my heart, vote to re-elect Representative Jay McNamar. We can't afford to let Jeff Backer "represent" us.
We'll keep watching this developing story in MN12A. Will doubting the word of a conservative college activist have an impact of voting in Morris, home to a University of Minnesota campus?
Photo: Schmid and Congresswoman Bachmann, via his blogger profile.
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:
Twin Cities tweepster Anita Maria expressed a distinct opinion about conservative activist attorney Larry Klayman, who is suing the City Pages and several others for reporting on a case in Ohio. Two of the filings and the judge's ruling are embedded below.
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 The rest of the story, a new letter to editor of the Aitkin Age, Cyndy Martin of Grand Rapids, contrasts the reactions of both candidates to reductions in their salaries:
Paul Harvey˙s famous line was “and now you know the rest of the story.”
In following the race between Joe Radinovich and Dale Lueck, the issue of salary has become a focus. GOP activists in the area have called into question Joe’s residency and previous work, and independent expenditure groups have publicized that Dale Lueck voted to increase his salary as a county commissioner by $10,000 and then twice beyond that.
Some more information is helpful in understanding the full story behind these allegations. After a local letter writer repeatedly questioned Joe’s employment status as a legislator, Joe released his tax forms online [BlueStem Prairie]. They show that Joe voluntarily cut his salary in half to serve in the House. He’ll give up over $70,000 over the course of his term. Joe also voted against a bill that would have potentially raised legislators’ pay.
Dale Lueck, in a letter to the Age a few weeks ago ["DFL smear tactics"], defended his vote to increase his commissioner pay by $10,000 by saying that after the existing county board was swept out in the 2002 elections, they voted to decrease the pay of the incoming members by $10,000. He and the new board members simply put the pay back to where it had been. That seems like a reasonable explanation.
However, what Dale didn’t mention in his letter is that one of his primary campaign issues in the 2002 election was that he believed the county commissioners made too much money. In the August 31, 2002. NewsHopper voter guide [Bluestem note: see image below], Dale wrote, “IT˙S A RIP-OFF! Aitkin County Commissioners are overpaid...,” and then, at the board meeting where the outgoing commissioners voted to cut the pay, Dale said, “I don’t give a rip if you cut it or not, I can sleep either way. You can cut it to $15,000. I signed on to do the job and I’m going to do it.” [Aitkin Age, Jan. 8, 2003][Bluestem note, image above].
Of course, as we now know, Dale did “give a rip,” because he voted to raise the pay to the level that he said was too high, and then he voted two more times to raise it again.
I may not agree with Joe Radinovich on every issue, but I think he has integrity, I think he works hard for this area, and I think he should be re-elected in November.
There's not much more we can add to that other than the image of the Aitkin Age and the NewsHopper voter guide. Yes, Dale Lueck really wrote and said that.
Images: The Aitkin Age story (above) and the NewsHopper voter guide (below), sent to us from a reader in the district.
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 a radio debate on KWLM (AM 1340, FM 96.3) Friday, Republican candidate Tim Miller stated that he disliked negative campaigning and the outside money being spent in Minnesota House District 17A.
The on demand audio of this fourm has yet to be posted, so we don't have an exact transcript, but when the station posts it (here), we'll update this post.
For anyone following this race, Tim Miller's declaration is the sort of thing that would make an entire barn full of cats laugh.
First, Miller shares the MN Jobs Coalitions Legislative PAC's IE material on his own social media platforms. Here's a sample from his Facebook page:
And then there's his defense of the group's tactics in a recent letter to the editor of the Montevideo American News and other district papers:
At least the Minnesota Jobs Coalition represents small businesses like the many that are the foundation of our small communities in West Central Minnesota.
We're not sure where Miller comes up with that one, since the group's campaign finance report doesn't include a single donor with an address in the district, nor have area small businesses as a group signed on to have this PAC, with a headquarters in a St. Paul law office, "represent" them.
And unlike Miller, Falk doesn't share IE attack material on his social media--nor attack his opponent in his campaign lit. Like Miller, Falk can't coordinate with IE groups spending for him or against his opponent, but unlike Miller, Falk doesn't indulge in sharing attack material. It's all positive.
So Miller's saying one thing to the radio audience but doing something else entirely on social media.
But there's a more troubling contradiction of Miller's statement today on the radio. His own campaign media, which is overwhelming negative, as well as his nonsensical personal attacks on Falk.
Hi, I’m Tim Miller and I’m running for the Minnesota House because our representative does NOT represent us. Andrew Falk voted to build a lavish ninety million dollar legislative building in St. Paul. That’s ninety million dollars of taxpayers hard-earned money. Designs include soaring glass windows, a reflecting pool and a gymnasium. We don’t need to spend ninety million dollars on a politician’s playground. We don’t need this kind of waste and we don’t need Andrew Falk. I’m Tim Miller and I ask for your vote on November 4th.
ANNC: (fast paced read) prepared and paid for by Citizens of Tim Miller
As WCCO pointed out in a Reality Check on similar claims in a Freedom Club State PAC ad:
Democrats and the governor are not building a luxury space for themselves: It’s for senators only, Republicans included, not for the governor.
Republicans helped: serving on a special panel that voted unanimously for the architect and builder.
Senators and their staff will be displaced by the Capitol renovation project for much of the 2015 calendar year, prompting Senate leaders to ask the Dept of Administration to run cost estimates on several temporary housing options.
The Admin Dept. analysis found it would cost $187,000 per month to rent space short-term.
Eventually DFL legislative leaders and Capitol planners gravitated to the idea of a new office building northwest of the Capitol, and inserted it into the 2013 tax bill. They said the $77 million price tag compared favorably to the cost renting space for 30 years, which ranged from $165 million to $220 million.
"This is a necessary project to have the Capitol complex ready for the next 100 years for the people of Minnesota, and that's the way it should be viewed," Gov. Dayton told reporters earlier this month.
"A bipartisan commission, which included Republican legislators, picked the architect and the general contractor for this," Dayton said, "They seemed to be on board until campaign season started."
The original plan featured a $90 million building that wouldn't house all the Senators. The revised plan lowered the cost to $77 million and included space for all 67 Senators. The revised design also replaced much of the glass exterior with concrete, to answer critics -- including Gov. Dayton -- that the glass skin was too showy. . . .
The project is $77 million in one-time spending, compared to $19 billion dollars in annual ongoing spending. It's being financed by bonds, so it will be repaid over a 20-year period with interest. But even if it were paid for all at one time the project would represent less than half of one percent of one year's spending.
After a two-month hold-up, a key House committee approved a plan for a new Senate office building – although without some of the gaudier features of the original blueprints.
The House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee voted 14-13 in favor of a new $77 million building, the Session Daily writes, down from the original number of $93 million and minus features such as a large reflecting pool out front, a giant windowed wall that would have faced the Capitol, and a fitness center.
So Miller's ads tell voters that those features are still in the works, while telling listeners today that he's against negative campaigning.
We have words for that sort of thing on this stretch of the prairie--and we suspect that our readers, wherever they live, do as well.
Photo: Miller ranting on Pioneer Public Television about a bill he doesn't know much about. He does that a lot, and he's so anti-negative campaigning that he just can't stop himself for doing it and sharing that created by others.
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:
The candidates on Minnesota's Seventh Congressional District debated tonight on Pioneer Public Television.
Here's the video:
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:
According to Zach Kayser's report in House debate starts soft, then intensifies, Minnesota House District 5A endorsed Republican candidate Phillip Nelson whipped out a small knife and said:
When it came time for his turn to speak, Nelson pulled out a small knife and displayed it to the audience.
"This is my right to bear arms," he said. "I'm really okay with anybody having any kind of weapon that they want on their person, at any time, for any reason, in any location."
Bluestem supports the right of carry permit holders to bring their firearms to places where they may legally do so (like the Minnesota state capitol), but we definitely draw the line at "anybody" carrying "any kind of weapon" anywhere, any time.
We would be quite uncomfortable, for instance, with violent felons whose civil rights have not yet been restored carrying Stingers into crowded theaters and yelling "Fire!"
But maybe that's just us.
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:
Asked about how the legislature might devise programs to create jobs and attract qualified workers, Green said:
Here's a transcript of the clip above:
But what I would like to see is the vocational training and more of a move away from the four-year college, not certainly eliminating it, but a push toward the vocational schools because we have people coming out of vocational schools that are making five figures now and they're good jobs.
Bluestem certainly hopes that graduates of Minnesota's technical schools are making five-figures when they are hired, since even a fulltime minimum wage job pays $16,640 annually, according to this online calculator.
How much do recent certificate, two-year and four-year degree graduates earn? The chart above is taken from an article reporting at MinnPost by Trending editor of Twin Cities Business Liz Fedor, How a new state website is helping students make college pay.
Graduates of two-year and four-year programs earn similar wages shortly after graduation
The state of Minnesota recently released wage information that shows, on average, that people with bachelor’s degrees are earning only slightly more than people with two-year associate degrees. The bar chart shows what Minnesotans were earning in their second year after completing their academic programs. The percentage on the bottom of each bar shows what portion of the Class of 2011 graduates were working full time. Detailed wage information about specific academic programs is available on the Minnesota DEED website.
Those who land fulltime jobs are all making five-figures, but a certificate or two-year degree is no more a guarantee of employment than a four-year degree.
But perhaps more important, candidates like Green and Dale Lueck in 10B seem to imagine a world where tuition freezes at MNSCU only exist to help students seeking four-year degrees. However, MNSCU is home to the public technical and comprehensive community colleges where certificates, diplomas and associate degrees are awarded.
As Bluestem pointed out in Radinovich schools opponent on tuition freeze after Lueck forgets his generation's advantage, what used to be called "vo-tech" post-secondary education hasn't been free for those attending for over a generation. Speaking of college, Radinovich notes how the cost of post-secondary education has been shifted from funding the institutions and keeping the cost of tuition low to shifting the costs to students and their families.
A similiar dynamic occured as regional "vo-tech" schools moved from being tuition-free for most students.
Green isn't the only Republican carrying on about tech school over four-year degrees, and while vocational and technical programs are a great choice for many young Minnesotans' career plans, funneling most students into such programs won't change the cost of getting a "piece of paper" at MNSCU or the University of Minnesota--and the private tech schools cost even more.
Indeed, Bluestem has to wonder why--if the Republican caucus sees tech education as such a panecea for both job creation and addressing the student debt crisis--that they're not urging a return to the system of free vo-tech schools. Read more in an earlier post about Green's fondness for tech schools in MN 2B: Steve Green on freezing tuition; or, the U of MN is moving to become a two-year college.
Photo: Dr. Evil from Austin Powers, a moment channeled by Steve Green in his "five-figure" salary comment.
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:
Screenshots: The candidates in the forum (above); the "Category: Comedy" classification (below).
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:
Tuesday's Morning Take noted a new Halloween-themed microsite from the Minnesota House DFL caucus committee:
FIRST: Today the House DFL will launch a campaign microsite called the GOP House of Horrors, targeting incumbent Republican Representatives on an interactive map. When you click the photo of the Representative you get a bio of their “scary” ideas. SURF: http://bit.ly/1tHPIX5
Nevertheless, the site is helpful in explicating why the photo on Miller's Facebook page (above) is so scary. From left to right, the photo shows the doorknocking help Miller received over the weekend: Made ALEC member Steve "Draz" Drazkowski, Miller, Scott Newman for Attorney General campaign manager state senator Dave Thompson, and Minnesota House District30B candidate Eric Lucero.
Last time Republican Steve Drazkowksi was in the majority, the very first bill he introduced included provisions to let local governments in Minnesota discriminate against female employees based on pay, for the first time in nearly 30 years. Even though the law has resulted in more than $1.2 million in back-pay for 1,300 Minnesotans, Drazkowski said protecting women against this form of discrimination was “unnecessary.” Editorial boards said Drazkowski’s proposal was “at best naïve and, at worst, sexist.” [Sources: HF7, introduced 1/10/11; Winona Daily News, 2/11/11; Winona Daily News Editorial 2/16/11]
With legislative mentors like that, it's no wonder why Tim Miller didn't see the need to bother to read one of the signature laws of the last session, the Women's Economic Security Act (WESA). As we noted in MN17A: Miller imagines mention of WESA is a "War on Women" attack on all Republicans, Miller had this to say about WESA, after talking about who his wife went to college:
So that's even better that we're setting out for than for your, ah, your [spins finger] Economic Progress Bill or whatever it is.
I apologize that I have not read all of your bills. I have a job. I need to go out there and work. It's easy when you're in the legislature to stay on top of all the intricacies of this. I did not realize that this was going to be test on the Andrew Falk bill writing academy.
By the way, Drazkowski was part of the minority of the minority Republican caucus to vote against WESA.
In the 2012 election, more than 90 percent of Prinsburg's voters cast their presidential ballots for Mitt Romney, and in every other race that pitted a Republican against a Democrat, more than 75 percent leaned towards the GOP.
That profile stands in stark contrast with the rest of the district, where Romney took 50.72 percent percent of the vote to Obama's 47.04 percent. Falk won the district by 53.86 percent, while in every other race that pitted a Republican against a Democrat, more than 60 percent chose the DFL.
There's no public school in Prinsburg, so perhaps that's why Miller can say the scary thing that the DFL found on his website:
Tim Miller is no friend to public education. After his Republican allies took more than $2 billion in funds from our schools in 2011, Miller defended the borrowing stating “Plainly stated, schools suffered no burdens because of the shift.” [Source: standwithtim.com, accessed 10/7/14]
According to Miller's wife, pointing out facts like that, as Education Minnesota did in at least one mail piece to members, makes Miller look like "an uncaring ogre." Her words, not ours or those of the union. We don 't think that pointing out the positions of Miller's allies is a personal attack--and that's what the union has been doing.
That brings us to the record of another candidate Thompson is working to support. Thompson now serves as the campaign manager for Republican Attorney General candidate Scott Newman, author of the failed Photo ID amendment of 2012. Only 42.47 percent of HD17A voted for this amendment, which incumbent Andrew Falk also opposed, which illustrates how, on Planet Tim, some amendments are more equal than others.
Blending the gender distinctions such as women in combat and homosexuals openly serving in the military.
That information is repeated on the DFL site, framed about how even Republicans found those views extreme:
Eric Lucero’s views are so extreme, the Republican Party and the Voices of Conservative Women both tried to defeat him in an August primary (unsuccessfully). Lucero’s campaign website has attacked government policies “blending the gender distinctions such as women in combat and homosexuals openly serving in the military.” [Sources: MinnPost.com, 6/26/14; Voices of Conservative Women, 2/20/14]
These are the people who join Tim Miller knocking on doors in MN 17A.
And incumbent Andrew Falk (DFL-Murdock)? He chose a much different photo to post over the weekend. Sure, there are a couple DFL House leaders in the shot, but there's also the mayor of one of the towns in the district, people of both genders, and a wide mix of ages:
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:
Rather than depicting Miller as "an uncaring ogre," as his wife had claimed in a letter to the editor, we found that the mail piece was directed toward Miller's Republican allies, rather than a personal attack on Miller himself.
We'd contacted the education union to see if we could obtain copies of the other mailers, while asking about member contact in MN17A in 2012. Monday, Education Minnesota press secretary Chris Williams responded via email:
Now that our annual fall conference is over I was able to look into the questions you asked about Education Minnesota’s involvement in the 17A race.
We’re not going to share the literature we distributed in 17A. However, I can tell you that it was intended to inform voters in the district about GOP positions on education and other issues. None of it critiqued Tim Miller personally and certainly none of it referred to him as an “ogre.”
The literature was paid for by the Education Minnesota Political Action Committee, not member dues. Education Members pay $15 a year into the PAC, which in turn supports candidates endorsed by the union’s members and provides most of the state organization’s funding for local levy campaigns. Members who do not wish to participate can opt out via forms mailed to them once a year.
According to our campaign staff, Education Minnesota did make independent expenditures in 2012 on behalf of Andrew Falk, who went on to win the race with 54 percent of the vote. The union did not produce any mailings that year that mentioned Miller by name. There’s no way for us to know if the Miller family was aware of the mailings two years ago.
Tim and Cherie Miller may complain about the mailings, but they don't share details of the content, nor are they accurate about the funding for the pieces. It's an appeal for pity by a couple trying to play the victim card while avoiding discussion of the votes that the Republican caucus Miller hopes to join in St. Paul.
The image at the top of this post is one side of the mail piece a union member gave us. Not exactly a personal attack--and we don't see an ogre anywhere.
Photo: A scan of one of Education Minnesota's mail pieces. The recipient cut her name off the mail piece, hence the snipping of Miller's first name in the image.
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:
Recent Comments