Every once in a while, political talking points get the better of reality. This was the fate of Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, during a trip to Brian Daniels' district, wherein the elder statesman, who lives on an Isanti County farm with his brother during the week while cavorting at his homesteaded lake cabin near Cambridge on weekends rejoiced at getting out of the metro.
. . . Minnesota Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) toured local businesses, healthcare facilities and nonprofits accompanied by Faribault representative Brian Daniels.
The purpose of the visit was simple: Obtain a better understanding of the community and the issues it faces.
“The challenges are very different in smaller communities than they are in the metro area, so we have to understand how to represent the entire state,” Daudt said. . . .
It is that exact issue that has driven Daudt to spend a couple of days of each week traveling outside the metropolitan area, something he said he urges his fellow lawmakers to do as well.
As far as we can tell, the biggest town in Speaker Daudt's district (and closest to the Daudt farm) is Zimmerman, population 5,228, 40 plus miles north northwest of Minneapolis; his weekend "cabin" is closer to Cambridge, population 8,111, though the property isn't in his district. Driving distant from Cambridge to Minneapolis is 47 miles.
And Faribault, the benighted district Daudt had to travel to understand how "challenges are very different in smaller communities than they are in the metro area" is home to 23,352 good country people. It's about 50 miles south of the Cities.
Does he get mileage and a per diem to travel from smaller communities to a larger one to learn about the unique needs of small towns compared to the fleshpots of Minneapolis and St. Paul? Or does the place-baiting majority caucus cover the gas?
Photo: Speaker Daudt. Perhaps he'll visit sunny Maynard soon to learn about life in the big city--and hold a fundraiser at Budger's. Awesome food.
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Friday afternoon, the Morris Sun Tribune posted Republicans put rural schools further behind, a letter from Minnesota state representative Paul Marquart, in which the Dilworth DFLer chastised Brown's Valley freshman Republican Jeff Backer for taking credit for education funding that was far from the House GOP plan.
I was surprised to see the letter from Rep. Jeff Backer patting himself on the back for the investments in education that were made this past legislative session. The original House Republican education budget that Rep. Backer supported increased school budgets by a mere 0.6 percent, which doesn’t even keep pace with inflation. Our schools are 24 percent below the funding levels they were at in 2003, and an increase in funding that doesn’t even keep pace with inflation just doesn’t cut it when it comes to our kids in Morris.
School superintendents throughout west central Minnesota pleaded with legislators last spring to increase funding because the budget Rep. Backer supported would have resulted in teacher layoffs and larger class sizes. Rep. Backer only voted for the increases he is now touting after the Republicans forced Governor Mark Dayton to veto their education plan forcing a special session.
Rep. Backer could have voted for the House DFL education budget, which made a strategic and strong investment in education, but he voted no. He could have voted to fund optional all-day, everyday pre-K and to provide more money for special education, but he voted no.
Instead, after promising to create more funding parity with metro schools, the Republicans and Rep. Backer voted to put rural Minnesota schools further behind the big metro schools. In fact, Morris will receive 20 percent less funding per pupil in the next two years than Minneapolis. (House Research/Fiscal Special Session A June 5, 2015) That’s putting the Morris school district another $127,000 in funding behind Minneapolis.
With a University of Minnesota campus in Morris, Rep. Backer also could have led the charge to keep tuition frozen at our public colleges and universities, but he apparently doesn’t think college debt is a priority, because he voted for a tuition increase at every U of M campus.
Instead of voting to invest in educating the next generation and keeping college costs from going up, Rep. Backer voted to spend nearly a billion dollars on tax cuts for the owners of skyscrapers in Minneapolis. Rep. Backer and his colleagues should stop playing political games and be honest about where Republican priorities are: they’re with corporations in Minneapolis and not with educating our kids.
Bluestem recommends that Backer seek the clever high tech preventative medical device depicted in the drawing at the top of this post if he wants to avoid breaking his arm while patting himself on the back.
Drawing: Rep. Backer the back-patter might benefit from donning this clever invention.
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Today, nearly two weeks after the Party extended the invitation, Angie Craig expressed concern that she is still the only candidate to respond to the Second Congressional District DFL’s invitation to appear in a series of forums or debates. Angie Craig is seeking the DFL endorsement in Minnesota’s Open Second Congressional District.
“We owe it to the district’s primary voters to communicate to them where we stand on the issues and why we believe we would be the best candidate to represent them in Washington,” said Craig. “At the very least, organizers deserve an explanation from any candidate that isn’t willing to do so. I was stunned to hear that the CD2 DFL was forced to cancel a forum proposed for November 7th simply because my opponent did not even respond to their invitations to appear. These are terrific opportunities to tell voters where we stand on the issues. I have fully committed to abide by the DFL endorsement because I believe an engaged and motivated party base is the only way to turn this seat blue next November.” . . .
Here's a screenshot of the Facebook post (the website page is undated):
Her competition for the DFL endorsement (and potentially primary nomination) took exception to the Craig campaign's take on the debates.
In a phone interview, Mark Warren, campaign manager for Mary Lawrence for Congress, asserted that the retired ophthalmologist would participate in the forums, but had not received the debate rules and schedule until Tuesday, October 27.
"We're looking over the proposed dates and rules," Warren said, adding that Lawrence would almost certainly participate in the four CD2 DFL forums in January and February. Warren noted that Lawrence and Craig would also meet in other forums such as those on the couch on TPT's Almanac.
CD2 DFL associate chair Don Slaten, who chairs the district's debate committee, which was formed in September, noted in a phone interview that the Lawrence campaign had been "non-committal" about the debates, but declined to criticize either candidate.
"Both Craig and Lawrence are great candidates," he volunteered, noting that district party by-laws required that officers be neutral prior to endorsements or primary victories in the case of no convention deadline. According to Slaten, the four 2016 forums tentatively are:
January 9, Prior Lake, location TBA; alternative: Burnsville January 24 January 10, Hastings, City Hall (subject to change if Vikings in the playoffs) January 30, West St. Paul, The Library February 21, Northfield, The Grand
Slaten said that the CD2 DFL had sponsored "lightly attended" forums featuring three candidates. With the retirement of Representative John Kline in the swing district, he anticipated far more attention for the coming debates.
Neither millionaire in the DFL race to replace U.S. Rep. John Kline in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District will say she is done lending her campaign money.
Mary Lawrence put $370,000 into her effort in the third quarter, bringing the total amount of her own money in her campaign’s war chest to $1.17 million.
Lawrence, an ophthalmologist, said she approaches the question of campaign financing and further self-funding on a “day-by-day” basis.
Asked about future loans to her campaign, Angie Craig said that “we’ll make that decision” but put the emphasis on “hard work at the grass-roots level.”
In a phone interview with Bluestem, a campaign representative told Bluestem that Dan Dodge was directing Craig's field efforts, with volunteers staffing phone banks targeted toward potential caucus goers. He also pointed to Craig's endorsements by labor unions, district DFL activists and elected leaders, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Craig loaned her campaign $370,000. Outside contributions of $132,586 brought her haul for the quarter ending Sept. 30 to slightly more than half a million dollars.
Craig, an executive with St. Jude Medical, said she is putting in “a lot of call time right now” — to the tune of several hours a day.
Lawrence said her campaign has hired field directors and field staff.
Warren told Bluestem that the campaign had hired Jon Martin as field director, with three field staffers starting next week. He asserted that Lawrence was determined to win the endorsement at the district convention. but did not say that Lawrence would abide if it proved elusive.
Images: Craig's new meme about the debates (above), which may be a bit of a stretch; Craig's October 16 Facebook post agreeing to the debates, details TBA (screenshot, via Facebook).
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While the North American High Speed Rail Group (NAHSRG) is not among the initial four applicants for the franchise to building a high speed train between Southern California and Las Vegas, it may have a second chance on putting in a bid.
The Nevada High Speed Rail Authority (NHSRA) has extended the deadline for applications to November 4, so perhaps there's still time to make the mayor of Rochester nervous.
In an email to Bluestem Prairie to response to a request for information about the bids that were due Monday, NHSRA representative Sue Christiansen wrote:
I am following up with you on David’s behalf to provide an update on this afternoon’s meeting. To date, we have received four applications from Dave Brough, Nevada Intercity Passenger Railroad Co., SkyTram International and XpressWest. The authority also extended the deadline for applications to 5 p.m. on November 4.
Should the Minnesota-based group get it together by the second-chance deadline, the current shortlist and any other late-comers will be the competition.
After reading up on high speed rail developments in the United States, Bluestem remains puzzled about the allure of the North American High Speed Rail Group to Minnesotans, since the grand claims made here about the group's projects in other places don't seem to be matched in those other places' media reports.
Photo: A concept from the North American High Speed Rail Group's website.
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At a mid-October meeting in the Granite City, Governor Mark Dayton scolded those who object to immigration and refugee resettlement, the St. Cloud Times reported in Gov. Dayton provides harsh criticism of racial tensions.
Those who object to refugees in their midst, particular refugees who are Muslims, have not been discouraged, with anti-refugee resettlement events taking place this week in St. Cloud and Burtrum.
Tonight at VFW Post #428, Times Guest Columnist AJ Kern will be sharing her insights. A good introduction to her views can be gained from the tone of the flyer above, her monthly columns and an interview today on Ox in the Afternoon.
At one point, host Dan “Ox” Ochsner asks Kern what Islamic country she grew up in, and she corrects him, noting that she lived in Iran for less than a year, during the rule of the Shah. A secular Muslim, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ruled from 1941 until the Iranian Islamic Revolution in February 1979.
Concerned Citizens of Todd County hosts Thursday meeting
Information will be presented about following the money trail, about the secrecy of resettlement contractors, and the use of taxpayer dollars. The impact on local communities will also be discussed.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m., but visitors are encouraged to come early and enjoy a chicken or rib dinner for a fee. A small donation will be collected to cover expenses.
Unlike Kern's event, it's not clear who is speaking, but the anti-refugee agenda is clear, since refugee resettlement is framed as a process marked by "secrecy" with a "money trail" to follow. We're assuming the Concerned Citizens of Todd County is an ad hoc group, as we find nothing about it via Google or Nexis.
Photo: Bruno's Hub Supper Club. The food looks fantastic.
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Bluestem looks forward to enlightenment each weekday from the Minnesota 7th Congressional District Republican Party's Facebook page and since it's Tuesday, we're not disappointed.
As the screenshot at the top of this post indicates, the social media maven running the official Facebook page of the Republican Party for Minnesota's Seventh Congressional district is deeply distressed that Halloween is banned in Connecticut because Muslims:
We suppose that's frightening, but as we searched for the truth about this new atrocity, we simply learned that the Republicans in Minnesota's Seventh Congressional District is as concerned with finding the truth about the scary story as they are in finding someone to run against Blue Dog Democrat Collin Peterson.
In the 7th District, Republicans love to target DFL Rep. Collin Peterson. He represents a sprawling western Minnesota district that Mitt Romney carried by 10 points in 2012 and Arizona Sen. John McCain won by 4 points in 2008 in the last two presidential races.
Republicans thought they had a quality challenger to Peterson last cycle, but the congressman easily defeated state Rep. Torrey Westrom, 54 percent to 46 percent, even though it was a terrible year for Democrats.
The GOP lean of the district should make Peterson vulnerable, but he has proven to be a formidable incumbent and Republicans have yet to unearth a top-tier challenger, or any challenger at all. The seat will be a top takeover opportunity once Peterson retires, but for now, we’re changing the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report/Roll Call rating from Democrat Favored to Safe for Democrats.
With Torrey Westrom refraining from fundraising, there's not just the absence of a top-tier candidate, there's no Republican candidate at all.
Halloween - unless one’s religion deems it satanic, sinful and worthy of godly condemnation - conjures images of carefree children dressed as witches, goblins, or Elsa from “Frozen,” skipping down sidewalks amid the rustle of fall leaves, rushing to the next house where, if luck holds, a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup instead of a packet of dried-out raisins awaits.
But, in Milford, Conn., Halloween now has another association: a PC, PR catastrophe.
Last week, elementary schools in the city of 52,000 that tried to limit celebration of the holiday to protect those who might not wish to participate faced accusations that they were trying to ban Halloween. As a result, they’ve walked the restrictions back - under protest. . . .
This is not the first time a Halloween grinch has visited Milford. About a decade ago, the issue came up when Bishop Jay Ramirez of the city’s Kingdom Life Christian Church spoke out against the holiday, asking why witches were allowed when religious celebrations were verboten. (Ironically, Halloween has Celtic roots, but also a definitive Christian influence.)
“We are adding our voice to the many,” Ramirez said in 2004. “We have a responsibility to share God’s point of view and provide a light that others can follow. Milford claims to be tolerant until you say something they don’t agree with.” . . .
So the Halloween Parades are back on in one school district, while trick or treating will go on as normal in Connecticut. Boo!
Socialist Collin Peterson lures Tim Miller into collective hunt
That must have caused state representative Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, to drop his guard. On Saturday, he posted on Facebook that he had gone pheasant hunting with the congressman:
At Northland Outdoors, Bret Amundson describes the event in Where pheasants are king and hunters VIPs. If pheasants are king, we certainly understand why Miller doesn't want anyone mistaking him for one. Some pretty good shots were on that hunt.
Tim Miller Person holding camera. It seemed less girly at the time.
Gary Swenson Well, OK, but PETA will not be fooled!!
Bluestem is pleased to see Comrade Peterson bring our state representative into the manly activities of robust agrarian socialism like pheasant and duck hunting. District residents had expressed concern upon seeing Miller's suburban karaoke bromance with state senator Dave Thompson posted to Facebook:
This will be a forever memory of Dave Thompson singing "God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy". I want to make fun of him but he was too good at karaoke and too great a friend. Thankful to know him. Blessed to know him. Thanks for joining us Quinn Cheney, one of my newest friends.
Male bonding is a wonderful thing, but there are limits.
In the Seventh, Peterson handily won his seat in 2014, even though national GOP groups pumped $8 million into the race to try and portray the congressman as a creature of Washington. No Republican has stepped up so far to run against Peterson next year.
Perhaps they're too eager to join collective hunting parties.
Photos: Screengrabs from Facebook.
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This post is not about embarrassing moments on social media, but rather, the unified stance of the Republican House Caucus in climate change denial. Those wishing to replace Franson might consider that their past attempts to frame her according to perceived personal defects as a strategy to defeat her at the polls have failed, miserably in the last election. Where the letter writer succeeds is in asking a question that can lead to policy considerations of climate change. To the extend that we've seen this post become a springboard for attacks to the person, rather than policy, Bluestem regrets creating it. [end note]
In March of this year, Representative Mary Franson boasted proudly on her Facebook page, “I do not believe in ‘climate change’ or ‘global warming.’”
In the Tuesday, October 20 Star Tribune, there is an article titled “Local firms commit to climate goals.” Best Buy, General Mills and Target joined 81 of America’s biggest firms such as Apple, General Motors, Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart, and took the climate pledge, recognizing that delaying action on climate change will be costly in economic and human terms.
I would like to challenge Rep Franson to write a letter to the editor explaining how her denial of climate change will benefit the future of her constituents, her children and her future grandchildren.
Bluestem believes that Mehrer pulled a punch in her letter by not pointing out that Franson's opinion is apparently shared by the rest of her caucus.
On the front page of Tuesday’s newspaper, a headline read: “As summers get hotter, humans get more blame.” This idea is being accepted as fact by most scientists around the world, by businesses and by government agencies such as NASA and the Department of Defense.
Even the pope seems to be down with it.
But apparently climate change is still not accepted in the Minnesota House.
The issue came up during the omnibus job growth and energy affordability finance bill discussion on the House floor last week. It was one of those debates that make you slap your forehead — and wonder how some of our elected representatives even found their way in to work that day. . . .
The fun began during a discussion of greenhouse gas legislation passed in 2007, back when tree hugger Tim Pawlenty ran the joint and protecting the Earth seemed to be a rational bipartisan goal.
Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, offered an amendment that stated plainly that the Legislature believes that climate change is indeed happening, and that human activity is one of the causes. She said that 97 percent of scientists agreed on the issue, and cited increasingly hotter weather patterns, and drought and flooding across the state that has cost more than $400 million. . .
At one point, Rep. Barb Yarusso, DFL-Shoreview, rose to reveal that she is, indeed, a scientist, with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. Her training makes her understand scientific process, energy and the movement of fluids, the very idea of climate, she told me later.
“We always make judgments based on the expertise of others,” she began her remarks to the House.
Yarusso patiently, quietly, laid out the argument for man-made climate change, pointing out the struggle some members had differentiating between “climate” and “weather.”
“The point of the amendment is, we aren’t going to ignore it,” she said.
And yet they did, voting almost exactly along party lines against admitting that climate change even exists. They aren’t scientists, after all. Well, most of them aren’t. . . .
Franson is only the tip of the iceberg, and heaven only knows what else will be exposed as it melts.
Photo: Franson critic and Packers fan, Esther Mehrer, via Facebook.
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While the supporters of re-opening the private prison in Appleton appear to have declared victory after a Prison Population Taskforce informal informational hearing in which no recommendations were made, an article by Forum News Service reporter Don Davis suggests that the issue is far from a done deal.
Moreover, we've noticed that local leaders from Appleton and Swift County are claiming both that keeping the prison shuttered spells economic doom for their residents and that they've developed economic development strategies that don't include the prison.
We took a look at recent jobless rates in Swift County and surrounding counties--and were surprised at what we found.
Let's hope that Goff Public isn't advising its clients and their supporters to assert what the union and other opponents believe--and that members of the press seek out opponents of the project to speak to their positions.
Supporters of a shuttered private western Minnesota prison face plenty of roadblocks before they could get state inmates back in the facility.
Optimism was strong Wednesday when two Democratic senators said they liked the idea of the state leasing and running the prison facility, with unionized state workers.
But American Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees Council 5 union, which represents state prison workers, apparently will keep pressure on Democratic lawmakers to oppose the Appleton prison plan.
“AFSCME opposes a lease arrangement that would give CCA a foothold in Minnesota,” AFSCME spokeswoman Jennifer Munt said about the Corrections Corporation of America, which used to run the prison itself. “Our union believes that private prisons should be prohibited. They shouldn’t be able to operate or lease their facilities in our state because it’s morally wrong for corporations to profit from human incarceration.”
Munt said that the union supports using the facility, which has been closed since 2010. For it to be used as a prison, however, she said an acceptable option would be for the state to buy it.
“Criminal justice is a core responsibility of government, and public workers should be protecting public safety,” Munt said. . . .
FYI. AFSCME opposes a lease agreement that would give CCA a foothold in Minnesota.
One of the more interesting parts of the discourse at the end of Thursday's hearing when the Appleton option was raised after hours of other possibilities dealt with conflicting claims for reopening the prison, made by local officials.
Claims: Reopening Appleton prison paves way to fewer beds; hard times but no bubble
Munt is on to something when she speaks of the foothold in Minnesota, and the conflicting claims within Appleton and Swift County officials' testimony give us pause.
It's claimed that Swift County is suffering from the prison's shuttering in 2010, but that the county has moved away from the prison (originally owned by a corporation set up by Appleton leaders hoping to turn a buck on prisoners; when the group defaulted on its bond, they turned their nose up at the option to sell the facility to the state, taking an offer from CCA instead).
Reopening the prison will cause the city to bloom again, but it will also spur the state to reform the criminal justice system, and a temporary lease will save money by avoiding bonding for more state prison space.
Under an outline Appleton and Swift County officials presented, the state would lease the prison but the Corrections Department would run it and could staff it with union workers. Hendrickx and Appleton Mayor Chadwick Syltie told the task force that reopening the prison would provide a boost to an area with high unemployment. Roy downplayed the CCA option, saying it could cost $50 million a year to run the Appleton facility, compared to his plan that would add a $16 million annual operating cost. . . .
Some task force members warned local officials that they could face a second prison closing if they are successful in prison populations
“It would be my intent that it would be the first one to be closed” as prison populations fall, Rep. Dan Schoen, D-St. Paul Park, said, adding that he opposes the Appleton prison even though he has family in the area.
“We could be creating a bubble that is going to burst,” Rep. Raymond Dehn, D-Minneapolis, said.
After the meeting, Appleton and Swift County officials said they have diversified their economy since the prison closed in 2010 and are better able to handle it if the prison reopened and later closed. . . .
Just how jobless are Swift County and West Central Minnesota workers?
Here are the September 2015 figures for Swift County and surrounding areas (click on the photo for a larger view):
While Swift County's 3.8 percent unemployment rate is the highest in the area, most of West Central Minnesota hovers between 2.1 percent and 3.2 percent.
When we look at historical data for 2014-2015, we find that Swift County did have a big bump about the time the commissioners hired Goff Public, but the unemployment rate has declined even in the benighted prairie county (click on the photo for a larger view):
However, the non-adjusted Minnesota rate is 3.2 percent, so Swift County's rate is .6 points higher, while the rest of the counties in the area are equal to or below the state non-seasonally adjusted rate. The highest unemployment in Greater Minnesota is found in the Range and vicinity, with the city of Hibbing topping the map with a 8 percent non-seasonally adjusted rate.
We don't see anyone pushing to open the Appleton prison--which is a privately-owned prison, not a public building for which bonding could be used to repurpose the facility for a mental health or drug treatment center, as Senator Barbara Goodwin, Dfl-Columbia Heights, suggested on Thursday--also advocating a sunset on the lease accompanied by a timeline of reform to reduce the prison population.
Instead,without such assurances, this looks like a plan to help CCA draw some compensation for its idle property. (And perhaps the silliest thing said during Thursday's hearings was Mankato state senator Kathy Sheran fretting that Swift County would lose property taxes if CCA went bankrupt. We suggest that she read the company's financial reports to ease her mind).
The senators' remarks, along with Swift County weeping about its unemployment crisis, are found on the MnHouse Info channel's YouTube of the entire hearing, which runs four hours, nine minutes. The debate over Appleton begins at the 3:18 minute marker, at the very end of the long hearing. Here's the outline of time stamps from the House's channel:
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Lobbyists can look forward to coping with continuing construction-related complications in their day-to-day work when the Minnesota Legislature convenes next year.
. . . Mankato booked its Day on the Hill for the Senate’s new building, scheduled to open early next year, according to Vic Thorstenson, project manager. He said the new building boasts “lots more” public seating and open areas than the Capitol, with pleasant locations for Day-on-the-Hill events. “It will be very accommodating,” he said. “People can congregate in large areas and disperse to canvass very quickly.”
Perhaps the Government Relations professionals can find a friend and pit stop at Senator Scott Newman's office, even in he doesn't move into the new building. He seems pretty sympathetic to them in this letter soliciting campaign contributions from lobbyists:
MGRC has about 500 members. If you'd like to reach our membership with a job opening, event or other campaign information, you can purchase a set of mailing labels from our office. The cost is $75 for current MGRC members and $150 for nonmembers.
Or perhaps a hapless volunteer simply cut and pasted the mailing list out of the directory.
Pay to play suspicions in Newman's past
As we said, we're not so sure how common this sort of letter is, but if we were a senator who'd been involved in an pay-to-play ethics investigation, we'd probably avoid sending out a letter like this one.
Readers may recall that back in 2011, Bluestem Prairie broke the story Email to MNA: Sen. Scott Newman won't meet with groups that endorsed Hal Kimball. An email from Senator Newman's then-legislative assistant asserted that since the Minnesota Nurses Association had "donated to/supported" Kimball in 2010, that her boss wouldn't meet with MNA members who lived in his district.
It's our understanding that the more ordinary conduit for lobbyists is for the government relations professionals to throw the lawmakers a party (commonly known as a "fundraiser"), invite your friends, then charge admission at the door. Here's a recent event sponsored by members of what's genteelly known around St. Paul as the "Ag Mafia," with Majority Leader Bakk doing a turn as the guest star.
While this party was for the benefit of Koenen and Senator Kent Eken, DFL-Twin Valley, we're told this bunch is throwing a lot of parties for DFL senators, including those in the metro. Good cheer will be exchanged by all, in addition to the checks, and perhaps the Jerichs finally will be able to convince those metro-centric types that we small folk in rural areas should have our right taken away to confront large feedlots in court over the nuisances they create.
Money talks and bullsh--manure is only the smell of money. Here's the way fundraising from lobbyists is usually done:
Photo: We're still looking for this place in Minnesota. It's a big state. Note: Bluestem moved its world headquarters from Hutchinson (Newman's district) to sunny Maynard (Koenen's district) in 2013. We can truly say we've enjoyed the best of both worlds.
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After reading up on high speed rail developments in the United States, Bluestem remains puzzled about the allure of the North American High Speed Rail Group to Minnesotans, since the grand claims made here about its projects in other places don't seem to be matched in those other places' media reports.
Applications for the high speed rail franchise from Los Angeles to Las Vegas are due with the Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority on Monday, October 26, according to various sources.
Brede said he personally talked with Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle and Gov. Mark Dayton about the issue nearly two weeks ago after a dedication of the U.S. Highway 14 expansion in Owatonna. He said there's concern that that the North American High Speed Rail Group may give up on their plans to build the rail line in Minnesota if it takes too long to get approval to study it. He noted the company is also in negotiations to build a high-speed rail line from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
"There is some concern that they would say, 'You guys have diddled around too long in Minnesota, you don't get anything done, so we'd better go take our ball and go home and play some other place,'" Brede said.
The Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority held its first meeting Tuesday evening and established a delayed timeline for selecting an applicant to construct a high-speed rail system from Southern Nevada to Southern California.
The board, created in May by Senate Bill 457 and charged with selecting a private developer to operate the rail system, was originally required to make its selection by Thursday. Instead, it might not select a franchisee until November.
The board will accept high-speed rail applications until Oct. 26 and set a new selection deadline for Nov. 30.
The board got off to a delayed start because appointees to the rail authority were not named until early September, said Regional Transportation Commission legal counsel David Clyde, so it is now adhering to the legislative intent.
In considering applications, the board is required to weigh four criteria: the completion of environmental studies, the level of private investment, pending regulatory permits, and how far the applicant is from beginning construction.
The franchisee is expected to be XpressWest, a high-speed rail project that would initially run from Las Vegas to Victorville and eventually link to Los Angeles. Despite a number of setbacks in recent years, the project appears to have found new backing. Earlier this month, the Las Vegas-based project announced a $100 million investment from a consortium of state-owned Chinese companies and said construction could begin by September 2016.
The newly appointed five-member board zipped through its agenda in 25 minutes Tuesday, appointing a chairman and establishing a process to select a franchisee to build a steel-wheels-on-rails train system connecting Southern Nevada with Southern California along the Interstate 15 corridor. Ten people attended what someday may be considered a historic meeting.
Board members unanimously selected George Smith, executive vice president of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, to lead the group through June 2017. Board members also requested the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada to supply support staff resources for the new entity. Board member Tina Quigley is the general manager of the RTC.
Board members slid past the only potential point of contention on the agenda — that the authority's enabling legislation, Senate Bill 457, signed into law by Gov. Brian Sandoval in May, says the board must select a franchisee by Thursday.
Without acknowledging the deadline, the board approved posting a public notice soliciting applications for a franchisee immediately, putting an Oct. 26 deadline on submissions. Board members now expect to select a franchisee by Nov. 30.
If the Minnesota-based group has a ball to take elsewhere, Mayor Brede and the Dayton administration can find out soon enough. If the group isn't willing to share the proposal that's due to the Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority next Monday, perhaps a month isn't too long to learn if the group actually put up.
Perhaps the Nevada rail authority could simply list applicants next Tuesday, and so either stifle or stoke this drama.
The Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) is requesting applications for a franchisee to construct and operate the Nevada High-Speed Rail System. The Authority will be accepting applications from now through October 26, 2015. A franchisee will then be selected by the Authority in accordance with Senate Bill 457 and using the following criteria:
1. The extent to which environmental studies have been completed by or on behalf of a potential franchisee;
2. Confirmation by a potential franchisee of the level of private investment that has been made or committed for the Nevada High-Speed Rail System;
3. A review of the readiness of a potential franchisee for the Nevada High-Speed Rail System to engage in construction of that System; and
4. Pending or completed permit applications to implement the Nevada High-Speed Rail System. Applications should address all of the criteria stated in SB 457, include contact information for the applying individual or entity and be submitted electronically to [email protected]. A proper application should also include all relevant documents and other supporting material such as past experience and references that further enhance the application.
Please direct any applications, questions or comments to David Clyde via email at [email protected]; telephone at (702) 676-1561; and in person or mail at 600 S. Grand Central Parkway, Ste. 350, Las Vegas, NV 89106. Attention: Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority.
We haven't found any news about the Minnesota group in the Nevada press. Was a representative of the group at the September 29 meeting?
Photo: A concept from the North American High Speed Rail Group's website.
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Bluestem has neglected our absolute fav Minnesota Republican Party Facebook account for a few months now, but Wednesday the page administrator posted something that's simply too good not to share.
Collin Peterson, Socialist.
And to think that "People laughed" at the page admin earlier for using the word.
. . . Democrats will never get past racial grievances, never take much interest in rural America or poor whites, and that the party’s elites are intractably opposed to gun ownership?
. . .“Throughout his career, Collin Peterson has consistently opposed all attempts to ban lawfully owned firearms and magazines, and has stood strong against the Obama-Bloomberg gun control agenda,” said Chris W. Cox, chairman of the NRA-PVF. “He showed his support for Minnesota’s rich hunting heritage by voting for the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreation Enhancement Act, which would protect access to public lands for hunting, and prohibit the EPA from banning traditional hunting ammunition and fishing tackle.”
In addition, Peterson cosponsored and voted for concealed carry reciprocity legislation, which would enable law-abiding Americans to carry a concealed firearm in any other state that does not prohibit concealed carry.
“We can count on Collin Peterson to stand up for our constitutional freedoms in the U.S. House,” added Cox. “On behalf of the NRA’s five million members, I want to thank Collin for his steadfast support of the Second Amendment and urge all NRA members, gun owners and sportsmen in the 7th Congressional District of Minnesota to vote Collin Peterson for U.S. Congress on or before November 4.”
Or maybe it's Peterson's vote against Obamacare...or whatever that's tipped the Republican scout off about the Blue Dog's stealth socialism. After all, Philip Bump of the Washington Post reported in The Fix in a June post, Here are the members of Congress who vote against their party the most:
. . .Using data from GovTrack, we looked at every vote taken in the House and Senate so far in the 114th Congress. We figured out the majority position for each party (in cases where it was not unanimous) and compared every member of each body's vote against the party majority.
The member of the House most willing to buck his party is Walter Jones (R-N.C.), who has voted against the Republican majority more than one-third of the time. On the Democratic side, the high-water mark is Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), who's at 30 percent. . . .
Maybe the Republican guy is really thinking about State Senator Lyle Koenen when he thinks about CD07 socialists. Okay then.
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A friend who is an elected official in a Greater Minnesota city forwarded an invite to this event in Scottsdale, Arizona, from December 2-4:
Join other local elected officials from across the country at the American City County Exchange (ACCE) for the 2nd ACCE Policy Summit in Scottsdale, AZ on December 2-4.
We want you to be a part of the positive change taking place in communities throughout the United States. At ACCE, you can work and share ideas with other problem-solvers from across the 50 states. Lawmakers are thinking of new, innovative policies that cut red tape, improve local business climates and create workforce-ready students. And it's all happening at ACCE. . . .
We hope you can join us in Scottsdale for the 2nd American City County Exchange Policy Summit December 2-4. You will meet local elected officials from across the country in a variety of workshops to educate and inform you about policy experiences in other communities. At ACCE, you can also help develop public policy that encourages best practices for both cities and counties.
The ACCE Policy Summit takes place in conjunction with the American Legislative Exchange Council States and Nation Policy Summit, which brings together state legislators across America.
ACCE is an affiliate of the American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC], a 501(c)3 organization, that focuses on nonpartisan research, analysis and educational study to protect hardworking taxpayers. Right now, you can lock-in a low registration rate.
Regardless of your political perspective, we want your input. Come to Scottsdale, share ideas and learn best practices from other elected officials.
Bluestem recommends that readers keep an eye out on city and county board meetings to see if mayors, city council members and county commissioners are going to this conservative fest--and to monitor who is footing the bill for registration, travel, meals and hotel accommodations.
With Congress and the states gridlocked and dominated by special-interest spending, America’s cities have emerged as engines of policy innovation. From efforts to raise the minimum wage and secure paid sick days to bills banning fracking, some of the biggest progressive policy victories in the United States are happening at the local level.
So how has the American Legislative Exchange Council, a powerful lobby serving right-wing interests at the state level, responded to this resurgence of local democracy? With a systematic effort to destroy it. . . .
ALEC task force director Cara Sullivan recently explained to a room full of local officials that when it comes to citizen movements supporting job creation and higher wages, “perhaps the biggest threat comes from the local level.”
Thankfully, she added, ALEC has a solution: “ALEC has passed…state legislation that preempts the polities from within the state from raising the minimum wage higher than the state level.” In other words, if living-wage campaigns succeed at the city or county level, state legislators should intervene, repeal, and ban any such advances.
Sullivan’s comments were consistent with ALEC’s longstanding support for bills to block local control over issues that are important to everyday Americans. Even though ALEC has generally bashed all federal policy affecting the states, and its leaders have claimed that “people are better served by local leaders,” for decades its official policy has been to override local democracy when it threatens corporate interests. . . .
Fortunately, the bill passed early this year (it wasn't partisan), and we'd like to see local leaders hobnob with someone other than ALEC and Coburn. Sheesh.
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This week the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development announced $461,000 in three new grants from the Job Creation Fund that will lead to 45 new jobs and business investments totaling $12.1 million.
One grant, to Anderson-Crane Co. totaling $120,821, will lead to its investment of $1.24 million in a new facility, creating 12 new, full-time jobs paying between $13 and $20 an hour.
While this is great news for the people of Litchfield, if Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, had his way, this grant would never have happened. He fought the creation of this fund by voting against it two years ago. And again this year he voted to cut the funding for it by 25 percent. Why wouldn’t he want to expand businesses and create well-paying jobs here in Minnesota? . . .
The Meeker County Board of Commissioners has approved of a resolution of support for Anderson Crane as it applies for the Job Creation Fund Program. The state program provides incentives for businesses to expand.
Meeker County Economic Development Director David Krueger says Anderson Crane plans to double the size of its facility in Darwin Township – just east of Litchfield – with a 1-point-3 million dollar project. . . .
Are good jobs with decent pay for Greater Minnesotans what the Republicans are scorning when they kvetch about "metro-centric" thinking?
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The Uptake is live streaming Wednesday's Prison Population Taskforce. The agenda is posted above and here's the video, which we join in progress:
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In an email to constituents on Thursday, Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen, a Republican from Glencoe, announced that he was introducing legislation that would apparently target businesses with transgender-inclusive policies.
Gruenhagen begins by citing Dr. Paul McHugh, an anti-LGBT activist and conservative Catholic who has written numerous anti-transgender articles in recent years, all of which distort both the research on the transgender experience and the lived experiences of those who are transgender. Gruenhagen wrote:
According to Dr. Paul McHugh former chief of psychiatry at John Hopkins Hospital “transgenderism” is a mental disorder and trying to surgically change one’s gender is medically impossible. There is also research showing a significant number percent of individuals who change their mind and eventually grow out of these feelings, which is why there are delays of 12 months or more before certain permanent physical surgical changes are made.
Gruenhagen then claimed that anonymous constituents are “uncomfortable” with their transgender coworkers:
Instances have come up in Minnesota where individuals have attempted to use bathroom facilities in workplaces that aren’t their biological sex, making some employees uncomfortable. I’ve spoken with female employees who are too afraid to speak out and wonder about their rights in the workplace if they do not want men using women’s bathrooms. This has happened to a constituent of mine who works in the metro area. A man in her department has declared himself to be a women and wants to use the women’s bathroom.
Gruenhagen concluded:
“I plan to work on legislation next session that will protect the privacy of all individuals and our children’s safety in public schools, so people don’t find themselves in situations like this, worried about their privacy and fearful to speak to their employer.”
Gruenhagen has a long history of anti-LGBT activism. He co-founded the Pro-Family Forum, a group that advocates for conversion therapy, against marriage equality, and against anti-bullying legislation. The group created a video opposing LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying policies that included falsely claimed that HIV is transmitted via sweat.
The Column is a community-supported non-profit news, arts, and media organization. It depends on community support to continue the work of solid LGBT-centric journalism. If you like this article, consider visiting Give MN to make a contribution today.
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If all a person had to go on with regard to concern for the environment and climate action were Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt's declaration that the "real" divide in Minnesota is between metro environmentalists and the rest of the state--and Becker Republican state representative Jim Newberger's bleating about coal-fired power plants, we'd think that only dirty hippies in Powderhorn Park care about the planet.
But since we live in rural Minnesota, we know better. Thus, it's not a surprise to find a letter like that of Chuck Derry, of Clearwater, Minnesota, in the Sherburne County Citizen.
I read the article in last week’s edition of the Citizen regarding the recent announcement by Xcel to retire Sherco 1 & 2. It is disappointing to see, that even after Xcel has put forth their preferred plan for the plant, our local representative is still trying to scare people with how devastating this will be.
Xcel’s plan will retire the two oldest and dirtiest units at Sherco by 2023 and 2026, a timeline that is aggressive but reasonable considering the long term decisions that will need to be made in coming years when it comes to providing baseload power. Sherco is the top polluter of particulate matter that exacerbates asthma, other respiratory illnesses and heart disease. According to the Clean Air Task Force, Sherco contributes to 92 deaths, 1,600 asthma attacks, and 150 heart attacks each year. Sherco is also the single, largest source of carbon pollution that contributes to changes in Minnesota’s four seasons, our climate, and our health. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, changes to our climate are increasing heat-related illnesses, allergies, and the spread of tick-borne illnesses, like Lyme’s Disease. If that isn’t enough, Sherco is one of the most significant sources of mercury pollution in our state, contaminating our water ways, and resulting in health advisories against eating fresh caught fish.
Xcel’s plan will reduce carbon emissions by 60% and help protect jobs during that time, helping to ease retirement transition for those that are eligible and will allow for those that aren't at retirement age to maintain their positions either at the plant itself or within Xcel. The plan also includes 50MW of solar on site at the plant, which will help add money into the tax base of Becker that Xcel was supporting, diversifying the taxable income is a smart idea. Putting all of our eggs in one basket is not.
We also know that the plan includes 3,500 MW of clean energy like solar and wind (1,200 MW by 2020) which will help to create thousands of new jobs in central MN. And finally Xcel has said that the assets at the plant (boilers, including Sherco 1 & 2) were beginning to depreciate, meaning their value was lessening, which meant Xcel would be paying less in taxes as their local assets got older. This is planning for the future, something that we should have started doing long ago.
I encourage readers to let local leaders know they should stop playing politics with people’s lives and get on board with Xcel’s plan. Xcel should be applauded for the thought it put into its plan to maintain jobs, increase the tax base, at the same time it invests in clean energy. Our lives and the lives of our children depend on this. This is a win-win.
Who knew?
Photo: Sherco.
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Not surprisingly for folks with both background and backers in the fossil fuel industry, both father and son are climate change deniers.
In Lake Elmo last Monday, Rafael Cruz derided climate change after touting his son's qualifications as a "servant" to the people.
From the Machine Shed: the Lake Elmo talk
At the Woodbury Bulletin, Mathias Basen reports in Ted Cruz for President campaign visits Woodbury area that the presidential candidate's father was in town as the guest of the local Republican BPOU (basic party operating units):
Rafael Cruz passed through Minnesota at the invitation of the Senate District 56 Republicans and their counterparts from Senate District 39. The local GOP party extended requests to all of the Presidential candidates’ campaigns, but Senate District 53 Republicans chairman Brandon Lerch admitted that while the Ted Cruz for President campaign was not the only one to respond to the invitation, it might be the only one that sends such a powerful spokesperson. Still Lerch and Senate District 53 Republicans chairman Nick Norman are hoping for Rafael Cruz’s speech to be the first of a series.
Unlike the lunch at the Minneapolis Club, the evening appearance was captured for a wider audience. North Star Oasis, which bills itself on its Facebook page as "a weekly live television program that airs from 4-5 p.m. Central Time every Saturday in the St. Paul, Minnesota suburban area," posted a Youtube of the entire talk here.
Conservative talk radio host Bob Davis podcast about the event in Episode 424, estimating the audience to be about 90 people.
After outlining his son's fundraising prowess among small donors and nationwide campaign structure, Pastor Cruz touts Wallbuilders' founder David Barton's assumption of the reins at the Keep The Promise group of SuperPACs:
He claims that Barton's personal integrity will set these independent groups--which are not supposed to coordinate with the campaign--apart:
Now let me tell you another huge news. David Barton now has taken over the SuperPAC [cheers from audience]. David Barton is a man of unquestionable integrity, a man that America highly, highly respects. I'll tell you what that does. It puts the SuperPAC in a totally different credibility.
Rafael Cruz said he had just learned that David Barton, an influential evangelical leader and political activist, would be leading one of the Ted Cruz super-Pacs. . . .
It's unfortunate that Brucato is too lazy to consult Mr. Google, for she would have discovered (had she had the slightest bit of curiosity about anything) that Barton's leadership wasn't a shiny thing. This non-breaking news was first reported over a month ago in obscure venues like Bloomberg News.
David Barton, an influential Christian author and activist, is taking charge of the leading super-PAC supporting Ted Cruz.
The super-PAC, Keep the Promise PAC, is the umbrella for a group of related pro-Cruz political committees that raised $38 million in the first half of the year, more than the super-PACs supporting any other candidate with the exception of Jeb Bush.
"From the outset, the Keep the Promise PACs made their mission to provide a voice for the millions of courageous conservatives who are looking to change the direction of the country," Keep the Promise PAC said in a statement today. "Barton's involvement is an important step signaling that the effort will not be run by a D.C. consultant but by a grassroots activist."
. . .Barton is a self-taught historian, former school administrator and the founder of Wallbuilders, a group dedicated to the idea that the U.S. was established as a Christian nation and should embrace those roots. Time Magazine named him one of the country's top 25 most influential evangelicals in 2005.
His 2012 book about Thomas Jefferson, The Jefferson Lies, was withdrawn by its publisher after being denounced by some mainstream academics as full of errors. Barton has dismissed such criticisms as politically motivated and has remained influential on the religious right. . ..
Why does David Barton have such a poor reputation in the academic community? It’s not because of his religious convictions, his politics, or even his shortage of formal training. It’s his poor track record as a self-described historian. Numerous scholars, reporters and other writers have taken Barton to task for manipulating historical fact to promote his agenda.
The following is a clearinghouse of resources on Barton's poor scholarship. ...
He believes that demons control the government and is also a Second Amendment radical who insists that there should literally be no limits on what sort of weapons individuals can own, including tanks, jet fighters, or nuclear weapons.
But most of all, Barton is vehemently anti-gay, claiming that schools are forcing students to be gay and that the government should regulate gay sex. Recently, he has been telling audiences that the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage will force all student athletes to share the same locker rooms and churches to hire pedophiles to run their nurseries while requiring the military to protect those who engage in bestiality.
Well okay then. We think that selecting Barton to run his SuperPAC might well put Senator Cruz in the driver's seat of the Clown Car, or at least allow him to call shotgun to Carson or Trump, who seem to tied for first this week.
The Bartons visit Minnesota
Between the September 9 news of David Barton's new job and Pastor Cruz' talk at the Machine Shed just over a month later, David Barton visited Minnesota while his son taught for a week at a local private Christian school in Andover.
The Minnesota Family Council shared the image above on its website, along with this message:
Christian parents understand that God has placed the responsibility of raising godly children, and guarding children's hearts and minds, solely with their parents. We deeply appreciate Christian schools like Legacy that understand parents' irreplaceble role and partner with them to raise up our next generation of godly leaders.
Legacy's outstanding guest, Historian David Barton, is renowned for his work and understanding of our Christian heritage
The largely political organization added that it was not a sponsor of the event. On its Facebook page, the Legacy Christian Academy shared several photos from the evening. Earlier in the day, it shared one with this caption:
Spiritual Emphasis Week is underway! We are blessed to have David Barton and Tim Barton at LCA to speak to our community!
It is undeniable truth the Founding Fathers of our great United States, the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights ALL had as their foundation the religious and moral conviction of the Bible. Much of present day societal ills from abortion to mass shootings, from drug abuse to human trafficking, from fatherless children to sexual redefinition (just to name a few) are the natural byproduct of turning away from truth.
Here's the photo:
David Barton had already added SuperPACmeister to his list of theocracy building by this time. Did he court any big contributors--like the members of the Freedom Club--when he was in town?
We imagine that the son's weeklong residency had probably been scheduled before the father took over management of the political action committees. Perhaps there was nothing political going on, however much the Bartons' presence attracted conservative lawmakers, like fruit flies to ripe muskmelons.
Keeping a promise I: who stuffed the bills in Ted Cruz' SuperPACs?
Barton steps into a stable of SuperPACs stoked by contributions mostly from people who've made their nut in the fossil fuel industry.
Four affiliated super PACs supporting the presidential bid of Ted Cruz reported a fundraising haul of $37.8 million — a significant haul that puts the conservative Texas senator in the top fundraising tier.
The bulk of the money comes from seven individual donors. Keep the Promise I, which took in about $11 million, is funded almost entirely by Robert Mercer, the New York hedge fund magnate. Keep the Promise II is fueled by a single $10 million donation from Toby Neugebauer, a Puerto Rico-based investor who is the son of Texas GOP Rep. Randy Neugebauer. Keep the Promise III, which brought in $15 million, is sustained only by the Texas-based Wilks brothers, Farris and Dan, billionaires who made their fortunes in fracking, and their wives, JoAnn and Staci.
A fourth pro-Cruz super PAC, called Keep the Promise PAC, took in $1.8 million, nearly all from Texas-based donors, including Robert McNair, Sr., the chairman and CEO of the Houston Texans football franchise.
Mr. Neugebauer, the son of Representative Randy Neugebauer, Republican of Texas, is the co-founder of Quantum Energy Partners and has been an active investor in the oil and gas sectors, overseeing billions of dollars of assets.
Keeping a promise II: Pastor Cruz trashes climate change
There's nothing inherently anti-evangelical or anti-Christian in the notion of climate change. Witness the Evangelical Environmental Network or Pope Francis's recent encyclical on climate change. One might be tempted to think that the Cruzes are listening to the gospel of climate change denial and their funders on this one.
Pastor Cruz is asked about climate change, something that the audience member believes is a hoax designed to control people:
Audience Member: I believe the issue of climate change was created for government control--
Pastor Cruz: Absolutely!
Audience Member: And I think it's a religion of secular Democrats.
Pastor Cruz: As a matter of fact--did you see the question that my son had with the Sierra Club just this last week in the committee? I'll tell you what, he had the president of the Sierra Club in the committee in the Senate and Ted asked him, he said, now let me ask you a question, how do you justify when you keep pushing this global warming when the data proves that over the last 18 years there's been zero global warming?
And this guy repeats--as a matter of fact he first talks to a guy that's standing behind him and then he states, well, 97 percent of a consensus of scientists is that global warming is a reality and we need to abide by that.
And then again, Ted asked the same question, he asked it about six times and this guy parroted the same answer and Ted even said, look, that statement was based on a study that has been proven to be a bogus study based on falsified data.
This week, you held a hearing on the clean air and clean water safeguards that protect millions of American families. I testified because I wanted to talk about how these safeguards are especially critical for people of color and low-income communities, who are disproportionately affected by pollution and climate disruption .
But we digress. Pastor Cruz continues in the excerpt above:
Global warming is a manufactured thing. You want to take it to the extreme, it wasn't too long ago, they even said, well, cow farting is causing global warming. Even the cows are to blame. As a matter of fact, the whole thing is based on bogus data. It is all about control. It has nothing to do with global warming.
I'll tell you where global warming has worked. It's worked for Al Gore. Al Gore has become nearly a billionaire pushing this garbage of global warming, but there's no reality to it.
In case readers forgot, in April, we learned that most of the Republicans in the Minnesota House agreed. A press release from Rep Melissa Hortman, Is Climate Change Real? 99% of House Republicans Vote No, spelled out the sad story.
Pastor Cruz goes on to attack not only the Environmental Protection Agency, but workplace safety (OSHA) and unemployment compensation. It's quite the rant about the loss of the enterprising American spirit.
Pastor Cruz is dancing with the old school, fossil fuel capitalists filling the SuperPACs' coffers.
What's this strategy all about?
Pastor Cruz bashes marriage equality as well as workplace safety and climate change; in his podcast, Bob Davis calls it "red meat" for the base, but we have to wonder why attacking policy attractive to so many voters is a path to victory.
he $38 million super PAC supporting Ted Cruz plans to highlight polarizing issues as part of a full-throttle plan to turn out the white evangelical voters that can power him to victory, a new document reveals.
Keep the Promise, whose strategy is detailed in a 51-slide PowerPoint presentation titled "Can He Win?" recently posted to the organization's website, mercilessly attacks 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney as unable to elevate "wedge issues," or divisive issues that polarize voters, to the forefront of the Republican debate. Calling Romney a "terrible candidate with a terrible campaign," the slides pillory him as a Republican who managed to squander winnable states just like every other "loser" moderate candidate.
By deploying these issues and emphasizing his Hispanic heritage and religious roots, Cruz can win the presidency, the super PAC says.
The presentation, seemingly written to appeal to donors, syncs with much of the pitch that Cruz himself makes on the stump: that Republicans have their best chance of winning the White House if they nominate a clear-eyed conservative who can turn out the GOP base. But the presentation makes the fullest case yet for how Cruz's allies believe he has a path both to win the Republican nomination and then to defeat Hillary Clinton, who is mentioned by name in the presentation.
Among the wedge issues from past campaigns that the document cites in the Fear of A Black Planet Willie Horton ads. Fearing black lives and criminal justice reform, climate change and cute boys marrying each other, the Cruz campaign--which frets over control--seeks to further divide the country in order to gain control of the White House.
Oh good.
Here's the document, which we found online, although the CNN link is no longer working:
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St. Cloud Rep. Jim Knoblach said Tuesday he supports extension of the Northstar Commuter Rail from Big Lake to St. Cloud and wants to research the costs.
Knoblach made comments after supporters of the rail extension raised concerns at the St. Cloud NAACP Community Conversation attended by Gov. Mark Dayton.
Dayton said he supports the extension but plans depend on funding from the federal government.
"We get part of it, about 20 percent from the state, but we can't extend it without the federal government," Dayton said. "Whoever built that line and stopped ... miles short of St. Cloud should (receive) the idiot of the year award." . . .
Knoblach chairs the powerful Minnesota House Ways and Means Committee; after several sessions away from the body, he was -re-elected by a 69 vote-margin in the hotly-contested swing district, where "forces on both sides spent a chart-topping $972,000," J. Patrick Coolican reported in February in the Star Tribune.
Perhaps that margin and spending provide an incentive for Knoblach to keep an open mind about commuter rail. The Times report continues:
Knoblach echoed the governor's disappointment in the failure to have the Northstar Commuter Rail connect to St. Cloud and has also acknowledged the difficulty in securing additional federal funding for the project. But he is convinced that with the existing infrastructure and BNSF Railway's investment in a second track between Becker and Big Lake, implementation costs would be reduced.
"I really do wonder if perhaps it could be done for a lot less money than what was once thought," Knoblach said. "And that is one thing that I am definitely working on researching."
Community members expressed that without the extension of the Northstar Commuter Rail to provide access to jobs in the Twin Cities or the creation of additional manufacturing jobs in Central Minnesota, many in the area will be forced into working longer hours at minimum wage jobs such as retail.
After the formal discussion, Knoblach said he will continue to support the Northstar Commuter Rail expansion and continue working toward getting funding to secure the project.
We'll be keeping an eye on the consequences of that support.
Photo: One of the trains on North Star line.
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Since we pay as much attention to talk radio as we do fantasy leagues or professional sports chatter on twitter, Bluestem's had to catch up on our reading about conservative radio personality Jason Lewis.
The Mercatus Center was founded and is funded by the Koch Family Foundations. According to financial records, the Koch family has contributed more than thirty million dollars to George Mason, much of which has gone to the Mercatus Center, a nonprofit organization.
Voters can also form an idea of Lewis's ideas by the company of those most comfortable with him. The Woodbury resident played a supporting role in an extended 2010 profile of the then-congresswoman in the Washington Post, Michele Bachmann is cool to mainstream media, and an increasingly hot property, serving as local guide to the WaPo reporter, who observed:
The man who has enjoyed the best and longest access to Bachmann is a sandy-haired, tanned 54-year-old who arrives at the Minneapolis studios of KTLK-FM to do his radio show in a golf shirt.
No figure was more instrumental in Bachmann's early political success than Jason Lewis. Although his show became nationally syndicated only a year ago, he has been a force in Minnesota for two decades, lacerating Democrats, centrist Republicans and conservative apostates. He is to Minnesota Republican politics what radio titan Walter Winchell was to New York politicians: a force capable of delivering migraines.
In his studio, he takes a seat now across from where Bachmann sometimes sits when she does the show. More often, he gets her on the phone. Having known each other for a decade, they are chummy on-air: A relaxed Bachmann doesn't receive uncomfortable questions, and Lewis, in turn, can steer her into intriguing discussions mainstream journalists can't.
She sounds liberated in Lewis's world. Recently, she meandered into a discussion of 2012 Republican presidential politics, taking veiled swipes both at former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney ("What happened in Massachusetts is not a good thing for the state," she said in reference to the Massachusetts health-care plan approved by Romney) and John McCain ("We need to get a presidential candidate who is a constitutional conservative with guts. No substitutes this time").
Lewis expresses sympathy with what he views as Bachmann's special burden in dealing with "the establishment media," a force with waning clout, Lewis believes. "They have Michele in their cross hairs," he declares. "They used to be the media gatekeepers, but no more." . . .
Lewis, who regarded her as an up-and-comer with uncommon political backbone, threw the full weight of his show behind her [state senate endorsement challenge]. "I was leading the charge to get more House crazies elected," he remembers, grinning. . . .
Our favorite Lewis gem so fair, however, is the prescient prediction by Republican pundit Sarah Janecek in Ellen Tomson's November 12, 2000 profile in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "Conservatively Speaking, Local Talk Show Host Jason Lewis Likes Being Right in Minnesota" (via Nexis):
. . ."He's much too conservative for me," says Sarah Janecek, a Republican and a co-editor of Politics in Minnesota newsletter. "But there is a place for people who try to be ideologically pure like Jason. It's good radio and gets people going." . . .
Some observers believe he may declare himself a candidate again some day. Janecek, for example, gauges his interest in public office by the congratulatory letters he sent delegates to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.
"I was an alternate, and he sent me one," Janecek says. "I also got letters from Tim Pawlenty, Norm Coleman, George Bush. So, he was in that group. People don't send those letters unless they are interested in something."
. . .Lewis can't rule out the possibility of a run for public office.
"You never know," says "Mr. Right." (Nexis All-News, accessed 10/12/2015)
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In Daudt stresses unity heading into elections, an interview posted last Friday, the Minnesota House Speaker told Capitol Report staff writer Mike Mullen that "Nobody’s even talking about a gas tax anymore."
The transportation committee chairs in the Minnesota Senate and House said Friday they are confident they can get a comprehensive funding bill passed in the next session, though both still disagree on how to get there.
“I could give you a one-word answer to our question and that’s yes – we will have a transportation bill this year,” state Rep Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, said at a TwinWest Chamber of Commerce discussion in St. Louis Park. “I believe Sen. Dibble and myself are on the same page there.”
Even so, the two maintained the positions they held last session. Scott Dibble, a DFLer from Minneapolis, still thinks a tax is needed, while Kelly says funds are already available but need to be reallocated toward transportation.
Last session ended with a “lights on” transportation bill, which covered basic maintenance needs, rail safety and maintaining transportation status quo across the state.
When Dibble pushed for transportation to be considered for the special session earlier this year, he released a compromise plan, which dropped a contentious proposed 6.5 percent wholesale fuel tax in favor of a 10-cent gas tax increase. The plan also offered measures favored by Republicans, including dedicating the sales tax on auto parts to roads and bridges. . . .
“We all … believe that comprehensive transportation is past due and it’s time to get it done,” Dibble said. “I hope it doesn’t become simply another thing that we lock up on and turn into some sort of partisan volleyball game and project it into the elections.”
Photo: Speaker Daudt, at a press conference earlier this year where he claimed Governor Mark Dayton, who supports building new oil pipelines across Northern Minnesota, does not support building new oil pipelines across Northern Minnesota. He seems to put words in people's mouths, that's for sure. Cropped image from a photo by Don Davis via the Duluth New Tribune.
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