St. Cloud-area residents rallied on Saturday to bring awareness to the metro about the need for Northstar commuter rail extension.
The rally was organized by GRIP/ISAIAH — a faith-based group that pushes for racial and economic equality in Minnesota — that has been a longtime supporter of the Northstar commuter rail extension and is looking to start a grass-roots movement to bring the line to St. Cloud. Northstar commuter rail currently runs from Minneapolis to Big Lake.
Those pushing for better transportation walked from the Church of St. Augustine to the Metro Bus Transit Center, where community members voiced a need for the extension.
The economic benefit of the line was the largest issue supporters pushed throughout the rally.
“Look at all the places that the Northstar stops on and look at the economic vitality at those stops,” said Rev. James Alberts, chair of GRIP/ISAIAH and pastor of Higher Ground Church of God in Christ. “Right now, Anoka County has four stops in it and in every single one of those stops you can see something growing around it that was not there before.” . . .
Photo: The rally, via Dave Schwarz, St. Cloud Times.
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So the Minnesota Republican Party issues a press release announcing how offended it is that Sen. Al Franken recently held two road cones to his chest as if they were female breasts.
Really. Is that the biggest issue they can come up with?
Does anybody realize that the race between Franken and Republican challenger Mike McFadden is not for homecoming king?
West points out:
Check out the campaign web sites of Franken and McFadden. Look under issues. Neither one has a word to say about foreign policy. Not one.
One would think a gratuitous sentence or two describing their visions for America’s role in the world would be merited.
West, the columnist, does not appear to approve of the withdrawal, but mostly what he's asking for is a debate, questions asked and answered.
Looking at two congressional races
We visited campaign and official websites for two other taces we've been watching more closely to see what the candidates and incumbents say about foreign affairs. In MN07, the campaign website issue pages for Congressman Collin Peterson and challenger Torrey Westom do not include a category for foreign affairs. Peterson doesn't have an issues page, focusing instead on his legislative work.
Briefly put: Hagedorn wants to "bug out" immediately; Walz supports the President's timetable for withdrawal, which other Republicans wh've actually been elected for office denounce as being too fast to satisfy strategic needs.
After nearly nine years, the war in Iraq has finally come to a responsible close. Moving forward, we must redouble our efforts to make certain our veterans have access to the best health care possible, are provided with ample opportunities for education and well paying jobs, and are becoming fully reintegrated into the lives they once knew.
Unlike the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan was not a war of choice. It has been a war forced upon us by the terrible attacks on September 11, 2001, and reinforced by the subsequent attacks on innocent civilians in nations across the world. In general, I support the President’s overall strategy for Afghanistan to remove combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. We must continue to remain vigilant to ensure that Afghanistan and Pakistan do not provide terrorists a safe haven.
While the language about the close of the Iraq War's close is subject to question, it does spell out a clear priority for addressing the needs of the conflict's veterans. What of the Afghanistan withdrawal?
President Obama, declaring that it was “time to turn the page on a decade in which so much of our foreign policy was focused on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,” announced on Tuesday that he planned to withdraw the last American troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016.
Under a new timetable outlined by Mr. Obama in the Rose Garden, the 32,000 American troops now in Afghanistan would be reduced to 9,800 after this year.
That number would be cut in half by the end of 2015, and by the end of 2016, there would be only a vestigial force to protect the embassy in Kabul and to help the Afghans with military purchases and other security matters. At the height of American involvement, in 2011, the United States had 101,000 troops in the country. . . .
Republican critics in Congress said that even though Mr. Obama accepted the recommendation of his generals to leave behind a substantial residual force, the rigid deadline for the troops’ departure could expose Afghanistan to the same violence and instability that has erupted in Iraq since the pullout of the last American soldiers in 2011. Military commanders had recommended leaving at least 10,000 troops in Afghanistan for several years after the formal end of the combat mission in 2014. . . .
On his webpage and elsewhere, Hagedorn has focused his foreign policy attacks on Walz's position on Afghanistan. Hagedorn favors the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanstan, a position he reiterated on Facebook on August 26.
In Afghan War, he writes in part of a statement we believe to be from December 2013:
“The Afghanistan War has become a war of diminishing returns,” said Hagedorn. “Rather than prolong U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and sacrifice more blood and treasure, as President Obama has proposed, we must end the war, bring our troops safely home and cease throwing good money after bad,” he said.
Read the whole thing at the site. He includes some characteristic graceless prose that he considers clever:
Hagedorn said Congressman Tim Walz has been silent while overly restrictive rules of engagement led to needless loss of life and injury in Afghanistan. “Tim Walz is proficient at issuing partisan press releases, but on this critical foreign policy and veteran’s issue the Congressman has been AWALZ for seven years - Away Without Authorized Leave Zzzz (snoozing),” Hagedorn charged.
Hagedorn said he advocates for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops and personnel from the country. He said he also advocates for ending all funding to Afghanistan for the purposes of "nation building," such as constructing schools and hospitals. He said he opposes the security pact because it would lengthen U.S. involvement in the country.
“I think our time in Afghanistan has come to an end. We need to move on. Just bug out,” Hagedorn said.
Moniz reported on Walz's reponse:
Democrat incumbent U.S. Rep. Tim Walz declined to release an official position on the agreement until the final version is determined.
However he did send a letter to President Obama on Feb.13, urging an accelerating schedule for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan after 2014.
“The American people are tired of this war. I have heard from a number of my constituents who ache to see their friends and family return home. I have heard from others concerned that this decade-long war is unnecessarily debilitating our economy,” said Walz in the letter.
. . .Hagedorn pledged that while serving in Congress he will vote for the immediate end of U.S. Middle East combat operations and oppose the costly and discredited practice of nation-building. Hagedorn said he would work with like-minded legislators to implement a foreign policy based upon the Reagan Doctrine of Peace through Strength and assisting those willing to fight for their own freedom. “People who build their own institutions and battle for a better way of life are in the strongest position to create and foster meaningful democratic traditions,” said Hagedorn.
“Both political parties have mismanaged Middle East foreign policy these past 14 years and the result has been an uprising of radical Islam, the loss of U.S. prestige and the slaughter of Christians,” said Hagedorn. “The recent implosion of Iraq and rise of radical ISIS Islamists proves the policy of nation-building has failed.”
“Brave U.S. military personnel fought and died to create an opportunity for the Iraqi people to fight for their own freedom and defend democratic rule; unfortunately, it appears many Iraqis would rather live in a radical Islamic state than defend a democratic form of government,” he said. . . .
Read the whole thing to learn the policy he would urge the rest of Congress to adopt.
Hagedorn's "bug out" position puts him at odds not only with Congressman Walz, but with many leaders in his own party and the United State military who are critical of the President's policy, thinking that the withdrawal comes too soon.
Republican criticism of Obama's determination to withdraw from Afghanistan
While Hagedorn views the situation in Iraq as a reason to leave Afghanistan immediately, he appears to have little company among his party's leaders for bugging out.
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the White House risked leaving Afghanistan in the same situation as Iraq. U.S. officials in 2011 failed to secure a long-term agreement for a minimum troop presence in Iraq, where sectarian violence has now reached its highest levels in five years without the assistance of U.S. forces.
“I’m pleased the White House met the military’s request for forces in Afghanistan,” McKeon said in a statement. “However, holding this mission to an arbitrary egg-timer doesn’t make a lick of sense strategically.”
“Does the president seek to replicate his mistakes in Iraq where he abandoned the region to chaos and failed to forge a real security partnership?” he continued. “We are in Afghanistan because it was the spawning ground of al Qaeda and the devastating attack on American soil. Those threats still exist. We leave when the Afghans can manage that threat, rather than on convenient political deadlines that favor poll numbers over our security.”
Sens. John McCain (R., Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), and Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.) also noted that Obama had previously announced dates for troop withdrawals regarding his surge strategy in Afghanistan. The president’s decisions to set fixed timetables without consideration of conditions on the ground harm U.S. credibility, they argued.
“The president came into office wanting to end the wars he inherited,” they said in a statement. “But wars do not end just because politicians say so.”
“The president appears to have learned nothing from the damage done by his previous withdrawal announcements in Afghanistan and his disastrous decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq,” they continued. “Today’s announcement will embolden our enemies and discourage our partners in Afghanistan and the region.”
Speaker John A. Boehner says it’s time for President Barack Obama to reassess his strategy for withdrawing from Afghanistan after an attack left a general dead.
“What happened today is not only a personal tragedy, but a setback that demands leaders in Washington and Kabul take time to assess the state of our shared campaign and the necessary steps forward,” the Ohio Republican said. “The Taliban’s recent campaign of high-profile attacks is calculated to accompany a global PR strategy highlighting the fact that U.S. and coalition forces will soon be leaving Afghanistan and abandoning its weak and ineffective government. The Taliban wants everyone to know it will soon dominate all aspects of life in Afghanistan once again. . ..
Boehner has long been a hawk on Afghanistan and Iraq.
And as far as the situation in Iraq goes, the Washington Post reports today that Senator Rand Paul, a leader of the more libertarian wing of the GOP, favors severe military action in Iraq:
Republicans pounced on the statement. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), speaking Friday in Texas, said, “If the president has no strategy, maybe it’s time for a new president.” He said in a later e-mail that he would call a joint session of Congress to seek authority “to destroy ISIS militarily,” using another name for the Islamic State.
Earlier in August, the New York Times reported that while Congress remained wary about intervention in Iraq, Republicans were warming to the idea:
A growing number of Republicans are criticizing Mr. Obama for not doing more. Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, said, “President Obama continues to appear unwilling to do what is necessary to confront ISIL and communicate clearly to the American people about the threat ISIL poses to our country and to our way of life.”
Representative Mike Pompeo, a Kansas Republican who is also a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said: “The president’s current path of action has been far too limited to make a difference. We must do what is necessary to eliminate ISIS, protect the innocent, and keep Americans safe.”
But few of these Republicans have laid out exactly what they want Mr. Obama to do to intensify the battle. . . .
Senator John Barasso wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday:
• Afghanistan. The administration says it still intends to pull out the remaining 30,000 troops by the end of 2016. If it does, the country will quickly become a terrorist haven once again. As with Iraq, the timetable seems to be mostly about the political calendar. The Obama administration seems to have lost the will to win. The terrorists have not.
These conservatives would all seem at odds with Hagedorn. Will Hagedorn's double-plus "zero option" find favorwith them--and the financial backing to promote his message on the Afghan war as a means to getting to Congress? Will voters agree? Or will he shift to be more in line with his party?
Update: While we were working on this post, Heather Carlson posted Hagedorn, Walz disagree on immediate troop withdrawal at the Rochester Post Bulletin. Carlson did not frame Hagedorn's demands for an immediate withdrawal in terms of his national party's leaders' position.
Photo: Foreign troops in Aghanistan, via BBC.
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Just when we thought that the dueling demands for apologies in Minnesota politics couldn't get any more absurd, a reader calls this tweet on the part of the Mike MacFadden campaign to @entenza4auditor:
As Bluestem reported during the DFL auditor primary, @entenza4auditor is a satiric fake account created by someone who snagged the Entenza for Auditor twitter handle before the real campaign got there.
TWITTER: In a storm of tweets targeting Republicans and opinion leaders, GOP Senate candidate Mike McFadden sent two basic messages to dozens of Twitter followers in what appears to be an “autotweet” strategy to engage in a discussion and share content with followers. The campaign is continuing to try to engage Sen. Al Franken in “cone gate”. TWEET1: “You can expect more from me! As a father, coach, business leader, and Minnesotan, I expect more too.” TWEET2: “Behavior like this from a US Senator? Please know you won't see it from me as I serve you – Mike”…Both tweets have links to McFadden’s appearance on the Ed Morrissey show yesterday where McFadden highlights the contrast between GOP on CD1 candidate Jim Hagedorn and Franken. SCREENSHOT: https://bit.ly/1lhoulW
We doubt that the psychedelic persona of the fake Entenza is a Republican, but we're not surprised to see the account targeted as an opinion leader in Minnesota.
Perhaps Jon Tevlin and Doug Grow, the grumpy guys of journalism who are yelling at party leaders to get those demands for apologies off their lawns, are on to something.
Photo: Mike McFadden, whose twitter account courts fake outrage from a Fake Entenza. Via Politics in Minnesota.
Today, the Republican Party of Minnesota followed Mr. Conservative's lead, pursuing a strategy that spins a soundless twelve-second video of visual traffic cone boobies gag by Franken into the moral equivalent of Hagedorn's multiple racist, sexist and homophobic scribblings on his now defunct blog.
The news conference comes less than 24 hours after the Republican candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s First Congressional District apologized for past blog posts that he said were “less than artfully constructed or included language that could lead to hurt feelings.”
Downey started the news conference by criticizing DFL Party Chair Ken Martin’s criticism of the old blog posts by Jim Hagedorn, the Republican nominee to challenge DFL Rep. Tim Walz. Hagedorn’s comments were initially reported in 2009 by liberal blogger Sally Jo Sorensen, but resurfaced last week when Mother Jones published an article reminding voters that Hagedorn wrote that two U.S. Senators were “undeserving bimbos in tennis shoes” and about “John Wayne’s wisdom of the only good Indian being a dead Indian.”
A funny thing has happened to comments attacking Congressman Walz that were left on the Facebook "apology." We'd captured the moment earlier in the screenshot above when a Hagedorn supporter started up on Walz's 1995 traffic stop in Nebraska.
As the screenshot below reveals, the exchange has since been deleted:
Far from being something Southern Minnesotans don't know about, the traffic stop was used by the Republican attack machine in 2006 and 2008 (NRCC press release here). Walz has never had another incident of the kind since 1995, before he move to Minnesota, his spouse Gwen's home state, to teach in Mankato/
It's good that the Hagedorn campaign finally deleted the material--though the Facebook page apology was widely viewed.
We'll have more on ApologyGhazi as news breaks.
Screenshots:from Hagedorn's Facebook page, before and after scrubbing.
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The comparison with Franken isn't a new one, though randomly citing Air America is. In a December 5, 2009 Rochester Post Bulletin article, POL Democrats say Hagedorn blog entries are offensive, staff writer Heather Carlson reported:
Carleton College political science professor Steven Schier said it is important to keep in mind that Sen. Al Franken managed to win election in spite of several controversial jokes, including a Saturday Night Live skit he wrote that involved the drugging and raping of CBS reporter Lesley Stahl.
“If Al Franken can write a book called ‘Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot’ and get elected, I don’t see this as a problem," Schier said.
He did say that Hagedorn’s comments regarding Indians and female Supreme Court justices is “pretty insensitive" and that he does owe voters’ an explanation. But overall, he said, what Hagedorn has written does not rise above the standard set by Franken.
Apparently, only Jim Hagedorn finds his writing funny enough to warrant no apology or explanation. In the meantime, we'd like to learn what McFadden found offensive on Air America.
In October 2009, Bluestem Prairie was the first to examine the content of Hagedorn's blog, Mr. Conservative. Following Friday's publication of Tim Murphy's House Candidate Called Female Senators "Undeserving Bimbos in Tennis Shoes" at Mother Jones, the news of Minnesota First Congressional District Republican candidate Jim Hagedorn's defunct "Mr. Conservative" blog has gone viral.
Photo: Jim Hagedorn and a piece of John Deere farm equipment.
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Hagedorn defeated the Republican Party of Minnesota's endorsed candidate, Aaron Miller, in the August 12 primary and now faces national scrutiny as a candidate.
But this isn't "Mr. Conservative's" first rodeo, since Hagedorn experienced a similar though more localized reaction in 2009 when the blog was first discovered by Bluestem Prairie and other media during the candidate's first bid to run for Congress in the Fighting First.
A review of 2014 and 2009 coverage shows that Hagedorn's reaction to dismay about the blog's content hasn't changed much: he still thinks he's a satirist, a funny guy.
A businessman, Hagedorn defended his off-the-cuff opinions as humorous and satirical in nature, saying he criticized politicians of all stripes, not just Democrats. The posts were written between 2002 and 2008 on a now-defunct blog titled “Mr. Conservative.” The writings were first reported by politics blog Bluestem Prairie and later picked up by Mother Jones, a liberal news site.
“Over the years, I wrote political commentary … and poked fun at national politicians,” Hagedorn said. “This is old stuff that’s been out there” for years, he said.
Asked whether he owed voters an apology for his crude and strong language, he said he did not.
It's true that the stuff has been out there for years, though Bluestem isn't sure why aging Hagedorn racist, sexist and homophobic cheese improves the favor since we first posted about it in October 2009.
And the 2014 defense is cut from the same block as the 2009 justifications, when the story didn't go viral nationally because the former lobbyists and Treasury department employee was just one of several candidates seeking to challenge Walz in 2010.
Republican activists endorsed state representative Randy Demmer that 2010; the genial Hayfield conservative came as close as anyone to defeating Walz.
The next day, Carlson reported that Hagedorn's posts became an issue in the district and state press when he deleted some of his posts. She writes in Hagedorn scrubs blog posts:
Minnesota bloggers have discovered that 1st Congressional District Republican candidate Jim Hagedorn appears to have sanitized his blog "Mr. Conservative" in advance of his announcement yesterday that he is running. Bluestem Prairie notes that it appears all entries prior to 2004 have been scrubbed.
A Bluestem Prairie blog post from October includes some of these deleted posts. The Minnesota Independent also has a story about the removed posts that mocked Wellstone mourners and Rod Grams' infidelities. . . .
The rest of the post includes some of Hagedorn's text about the Wellstone mourners and the often-repeated content where Hagedorn writes about Native American voters: "many of the voters registered for absentee ballots were found to be chiefs and squaws who had returned to the spirit world many moons ago," concluding that:
Voter backlash against the Democrat’s (typical) election-stealing maneuvers will be the margin of victory for Thune. Leave it to liberals to ruin John Wayne’s* wisdom of the only good Indian being a dead Indian."
In addition to scrubbing the offensive material, Hagedorn's response to the criticism mirrored his current defense that he's just a funny guy.
But Hagedorn said he removed the posts prior to 2004 only because they were outdated. He said he was writing the blog as a political satirist and it is not meant to be offensive.
Hagedorn is government relations director for Electromed Inc., based in New Prague, Minn. His father Tom Hagedorn is a former Republican congressman who represented southern Minnesota.
‘I poke fun at everybody’
“I understand that some of the folks on the left aren’t going to like what I write," he said. “I poke fun at everybody, including Republicans."
Apparently, nonpartisan racism, sexism and homophobia is a a-okay in Jim Hagedorn's world. Carlson turned to Carleton College political scientist Steven Schier who thought that if Al Franken could get elected after working as a comedian on SNL and writing a book called ‘Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot," that Hagedorn might not have a problem.
However, he did disagree with Hagedorn's assessment that there's nothing here to explain to voters. Carlson reports:
He did say that Hagedorn’s comments regarding Indians and female Supreme Court justices is “pretty insensitive" and that he does owe voters’ an explanation.
Given that this material was an issue in the 2010 endorsement process, Bluestem is curious whether Republican activists like state party treasurer Bron Scherer anticipated the blow-up in the national media. Or did they simply not see it as an issue?
Photo: Hagedorn campaiging Saturday at the Le Sueur County Pioneer Power Association's tractor and snowmobile show. Via Facebook.
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Primary voters sent Seifert to the dustbin of history--or at least back to Marshall, Minnesota--while Southern Minnesotans shocked the world by picking two-time candidate Jim Hagedorn over newbie Aaron Miller, the candidate endorsed by the MN01 convention in the Spring.
But before voters re-animated the dreams of Mr. Conservative in MN01, Scherer tweeted about "walkers" in his Northfield, MN neighborhood, while yearning for that emblem of North American inclusivity, the gated community:
Walkers.... Al Franken walkers spotted in my neighborhood. Time to add gates to our community.
But of course, he's only joking we're sure. On the other hand, there is that cemetery across the greens.
Screenshot: A nice neighborhood in Northfield that a Republican state officer would like to gate to keep the Franken "walkers" out. Address, street redacted.
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First Mike McFadden said he could accept Chinese steel in an oil pipeline construction project, then a week later he said he could support a higher federal fuel tax. . . .
A Republican misspeaking about a tax increase is a tough mistake. So is the comment about accepting Chinese steel in a state where taconite, which can be turned into steel, is a major resource.
The steel comment has gained traction on the Iron Range, where McFadden and other Republicans have worked to get support in the normally Democratic area. Saying something that could be perceived as anti-American steel could hurt. . . .
There's not much more Bluestem can add to that.
McFadden is challenging Senator Al Franken, D- Minnesota.
Photo: Mike McFadden, via Politics in Minnesota.
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But the Moorhead Update isn't the only fake news being created about this race. A real blogger at the Sixth Congressional District based Let Freedom Ring blog (crossposted at Look True North) actually be going the Beltway Republicans one better in pumping out nincompoopery about this race.
In the press release, Westrom's positions on various ag policy hot button issues are outlined, as well as the nature of the questions panelists asked. The campaign does not take any direct potshots at Peterson, and the statement is an accurate representation of Westrom's stances.
Those who want to watch the forum can check it out in the Uptake's video embedded below:
As is always the case with Farmfest's candidate forums, organized with care by Kent Thiesse, the forum was widely covered. Forum Communications veteran political reporter Don Davis reports in U.S. House candidates agree and disagree:
In a nearly 90-minute forum at the annual Farmfest agriculture event, few differences surfaced in the western and southern districts that cover most of Minnesota's farm country. Incumbent Democrats U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson and Tim Walz repeatedly talked about their records of helping farmers, even working with Republicans. Challengers relied on their feeling that it is time for a change. . . .
In his quest to unseat 12-term incumbent Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson, Republican state Sen. Torrey Westrom staked out a clear policy agenda during a debate at Farmfest on Wednesday: He wants to speed up the regulatory process. He supports more pipeline infrastructure to transport oil and free up delivery capacity on rail lines. He spoke about the need to inform urban-area lawmakers about the importance of farming during the twice-a-decade farm bill overhaul process.
His only problem is that Peterson agrees on all three points.
Indeed, on issues, Wednesday's debate showed little difference between the Republican and Democratic candidates. So Westrom, a state Senator making his first challenge to Peterson, one of the last remaining moderate Democrats in the U.S. House, said afterward his strategy this fall will be to focus on other policy areas where Peterson might be weak in an otherwise Republican-leaning district.
Gross quotes from the press release that he's labeled an "article," while never actually telling his readers the name of the forum or where and when it took place. Next he moves to commentary plucked from we know not where:
When it comes to getting things done in DC, Collin Peterson is about as worthless as a potted plant. He didn’t stand up to President Obama and the environmental activists that run the EPA or the spineless diplomats in the State Department.
Sitting here in Bluestem Prairie's World Headquarters in sunny Maynard, Chippewa County, in the agricultural southern part of MN07, we're scratching our heads, wondering just where this spleen comes from.
It's not coming from Westrom's straight forward press statement. Moreover, it's not coming from any news reports on this planet, at least not in the MN07 corner of it.
Members of a House Agriculture subcommittee from both parties had a heated exchange yesterday with a top USDA official over the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal for defining exactly what falls under the agency's jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
In the hot seat was Robert Bonnie, the USDA's under secretary for natural resources and environment. He told lawmakers that an “interpretive rule” on farming and ranching exemptions under the CWA, issued at the same time as the EPA proposal to define “Waters of the U.S.,” ensures that 56 specific agricultural conservation practices, executed under the standards of the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, would not be subject to CWA dredged or fill permitting requirements. . . .
Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., the ranking member of the full Agriculture Committee, also criticized the rule and submitted a list of over 100 conservation practices recognized by NRCS, half of which are not included in the EPA's interpretive rule. “How do you say you're covering everything, when it's not true?” he said. . . .
Two bills that have bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives address serious concerns voiced by the American Farm Bureau Federation about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule.
A second bill addresses concerns about common farm practices that have been exempt from Clean Water Act regulation but could lose that status under the proposed rule.
In March the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers issued an interpretive rule to clarify how “Waters of the U.S.” would affect normal farming, ranching and forestry exemptions. AFBF analysis determined that the interpretive rule narrows the list of existing exemptions and would require compliance with otherwise voluntary U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service standards. The proposal puts the USDA in the unprecedented position of enforcing Clean Water Act compliance.
Reps. Chris Collins, R-N.Y.; Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio; Frank Lucas, R-Okla.; Collin Peterson, D-Minn.; Reid Ribble, R-Wis.; Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.; and Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., have introduced H.R. 5071, The Agricultural Conservation Flexibility Act. The bill clarifies that existing Clean Water Act exemptions for normal farming, ranching and forestry apply to all conservation activities without regard to the interpretive rule.
The bill further states that no soil and water conservation practices will be treated as new uses of areas of navigable waters, impairments of the flow of navigable waters or reductions in the reach of those waters under recapture provisions in Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The bill also clarifies that normal farming, ranching and forestry activities will be treated as such without regard to their date of commencement.
We guess Gross missed that, but then, he fails to cite any source about Peterson's record or public statements about the proposed water rule. He goes on:
Thanks to Congressman Peterson’s spinelessness, grain elevators in Minnesota’s 7th District are hurting. Minnesota’s 7th District doesn’t need a DC insider with ‘influence’. Minnesota’s 7th District needs someone who gets things done.
What's Peterson doing about train traffic? First, he's being realistic, understanding that while pressure helps, short term solutions are just that. AgWeek reports in Peterson, Sinner talk grain train delays:
Farm groups have raised concerns in recent weeks about delays affecting their ability to move crops quickly. A cold winter, a large grain harvest and increased oil train traffic have been cited for the delay.
BNSF, the largest railroad in North Dakota, is investing about $400 million in North Dakota in part to increase capacity.
“I think that Burlington Northern at least, they’ve got the message. They are putting more resources in,” said Peterson, who went to Cavalier as Sinner’s guest. “The problem is, in the short term that’s not going to really probably do much.”
For Peterson, longterm solutions include building the Keystone XL pipeline (he's voted for it) that will pick up and the Enbridge Sandpiper pipeline. The Keystone Pipeline is largely intended to haul tar sand oil, but it will take on 100,000 barrels per day of Bakken oil.
Bluestem isn't fond of the Keystone or current route of the Enbridge, but it's clear that Peterson is a proponent of building pipelines. He's been scolded as a sellout to big oil for his pro-Keystone XL votes by a progressive blogger at Daily Kos in Which 19 House Democrats Just Voted for the Keystone XL Pipeline?
Again, we have to wonder why Gross is simply making his material up as he goes along.
There are other things he's missing (like passing Farm Bills).
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved a storage facility that could ease a second straight winter propane shortage.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said the corps approved the 1 million-gallon facility at "record speed" so it will be ready for this fall's harvest. . . .
The project is at the Dooley Petroleum facility in Benson in west-central Minnesota. The new storage will be in addition to 1.5 million gallons Dooley already has available. . . .
Last winter, propane supplies were short for a variety of reasons. Those shortages sent propane prices soaring. Some Minnesotans had trouble obtaining the fuel, which is used to dry grain, heat livestock facilities and heat homes.
"Last winter's propane shortage meant Minnesotans paid near record prices to heat their homes and left many facing uncertainty about propane access in the future," U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said.
Peterson, Klobuchar and U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., wrote a letter to the corps seeking permission to build the new facility.
Dooley's operates branches in nearby Clara City and here in Maynard. It's a MN07 business.
A blogger like Gross has the right to assert anything, but voters should be on the lookout for fake news in the MN07 congressional campaign. Is an opinion documented? Are the links to reputable news sources and ag organizations? Or does a site lead readers only into campaign material?
As we just learned in the DFL state auditor's race, a campaign and its supporters will say anything to get elected--but voters have retained the ability to evaluate claims and vote accordingly.
So far, the Westrom campaign is sticking to describing his positions, but those folks pushing him as an alternative to Peterson? Not so much.
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Bluestem is beginning to wonder if endorsed Republican U.S. Senate candidate is just a really big picture guy and not a numbers dude.
After all, as Range blogger Aaron Brown and economist Louis D. Johnston pointed out, he was extremely generous in throwing out unemployment figures on the Range, claiming that the numbers were higher than they are.
Perhaps that's why during a recent visit to Willmar, McFadden waxed expansive about PolyMet's potential to create jobs. In McFadden tours MinnWest, talks economy and energy, West Central Tribune staff writer Linda Vanderwerf reports in McFadden tours MinnWest, talks economy and energy:
To aid in developing industry, he said, he would favor “sensible regulation” by the federal government.
He pointed to a proposed copper mine on the Iron Range that could yield thousands of jobs in an area of high unemployment. The plan has been under federal review for seven years.
According to PolyMet Mining's Go PolyMet website page on Minnesota Jobs And More, Polymet will create:
360 full-time mining jobs in operations
600+ related jobs*
And MPR reported that the project will create 1000 temporary construction jobs--nothing to sneeze at, but not the long-term solution that McFadden implies. Nor is there any guarantee that the construction jobs will be filled by unemployed people who live in the area.
Further, the suggestion here is that the higher unemployment rate is because there are people qualified to work in the mines who can’t, because environmental review is holding up their livelihoods. That’s simply not true at all. As I’ve said before, if you can pass a drug test and have two years of technical training in some aspect of the mining industry, you have a very good chance at a mining job right now. And sure, new mining would open more jobs — probably bringing in new residents to work the nonferrous mines more than anything else.
That’s good, actually, but if we’re really concerned about those 7.5 percent who are here now and not employed, we should be figured out a way to get them the two years of college they currently can’t afford or aren’t prepared to take. We should be concerned about their wages for full time work, so that people with families don’t have to work 70 hours to pay for basic needs. Is this what McFadden was talking about? I wonder. Sen. Al Franken has talked about these issues, but he is the one McFadden blames for the discrepancy. . . .
For McFadden and other Republicans challenging DFL incumbents, this sort of Iron Range mining and unemployment hyperbole makes for a nice talking point. And these points are rooted in real issues deserving of our attention, but they are exaggerations made for effect, not outcome. Exaggeration makes jokes funnier and fish bigger. But the real story is often more complex and requires solutions not rooted in the staccato party doctrine soundbites of a modern campaign.
Read the entire piece at Minnesota Brown, and follow the blog and its less extensive mirror at the Star Tribune, The Up North Report.
It's true: engineers are fallible, and it would be wise for every mining operation in the world to take another look at the design of their tailings basins based on this terrible disaster. Responsible companies will learn from this and react appropriately. PolyMet says it will be seeking third-party engineering consultants to confirm the safety of their plans once they are permitted.
Mining the minerals we use in everyday products is inherently risky and, to some degree, inherently necessary. The question for Northern Minnesota is whether the need for and benefit from new nonferrous mining is greater than the risks and costs. Incidentally, this is what mining companies talk about behind boardroom doors. Communities and states should do the same, and lay out the considerations plainly in public view.
What happened in British Columbia simply must not be allowed to happen in Minnesota; the effects would be culturally and economically devastating. But we should also acknowledge that there is an acceptable amount of risk to take when it comes to mining necessary minerals. The challenge is finding the tipping point.
When you break this debate out of the emotional, culturally-motivated battle between developers and environmentalists you see that we have a question that can probably be answered, if we're willing to use math honestly to determine what the future of Northern Minnesota could and should look like.
It would seem that McFadden favors a centralized discussion by one federal agency rather than one in which a larger and more transparent discussion can take place, rather than "laying out considerations in plain view," as Brown suggests.
Images: Above: the proposed PolyMet project's Erie Plant, via Copper Investing News; Below- From the CBC: "A aerial view shows the damage caused by a tailings pond breach near the town of Likely, B.C. Tuesday, August, 5, 2014. The pond which stores mining waste from the Mount Polley Mine had its dam break on Monday spilling its contents into Hazeltine Creek, Polley Lake, and Quesnel Lake, causing a wide water-use ban in the area. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)"
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Bluestem is spending the day at our world headquarters in Maynard pickling and freezing green beans, since our garden has ceased to be horticulture and entered the realm of magical realism, at least as far as our harvest goes.
Fortunately, The Update is streaming both the United States Senate and congresional candidates' forums.
The participants, via Farmfest's schedule:
10:30 a.m.
U.S. Senate Candidate's Forum on Agriculture & Rural Issues
A panel of agriculture media representatives will pose questions to the candidates on a variety of issues affecting farmers and rural families.
MODERATOR: Emery Kleven, Farm Director, MN Farm Network PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES: Senator Al Franken (D) Mike McFadden (R) Jim Abeler (R) Kevin Terrell (I) David Carlson (R)
Congressional Candidate's Forum on Agriculture & Rural Issues
A panel of agriculture leaders representing various farm organizations and commodity groups will pose questions to the candidates on a variety of issues affecting agriculture and rural communities.
MODERATOR: Emery Kleven, Farm Director, MN Farm Network PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES: Congressman Collin Peterson (D), Seventh Torrey Westrom (R), Seventh Congressman Tim Walz (D), First Aaron Miller (R), First Jim Hagedorn (R), First Mike Obermueller (D), Second Tom Emmer (R), Sixth Joe Perske (D), Sixth Rhonda Sivaraja (R), Sixth Congressman Rick Nolan (D), (Eighth) John Denney (I)
Here's the livestream: video (click on the small "play" arrow in the lower lefthand corner to watch the embedded video below)
Photo: Collin Peterson, via Politico.
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Sadly, no, as the screenshot of the data for June 2014 shows. We'd used the May data in our post below.
We tweeted the screenshot to Mr. Zach, but he still hasn't corrected his post. Perhaps he might consider using this link, then explain just where he came up with that figure of 8.7 percent. (January 2012?)
Update 2: Our friend Max Hailperin points out that Kayser used this data set, but didn't link directly to it, and only vaguely describing what he was describing. Thus we're both right about our datasets, but McFadden--who claims to be drawing his figure from the "latest figures", is simply incorrect about what those numbers are. [end update].
Bemidji, Minnesota, is the proud home of a statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe, his Blue Ox; endorsed Republican United States Senate candidate Mike McFadden seems to be drawing inspiration from that tale with a whopper of his own.
Shortly before our interview, it came out that the June unemployment rate for Minnesota was 4.5 percent, the lowest since February of 2007. I asked McFadden whether he was aware of the state’s unemployment rate? Replied McFadden:
Do you know what the unemployment rate is in the Iron Range, Eric? It just came out, too. It’s close to 10 percent. Do you know what it is in Bemidji? It’s close to 11 percent.
Bluestem had been looking at county level unemployment data recently and thought the figure for Bemidji might be a bit high. According to data online at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Beltrami County's unemployment rate was 6 percent in June 2014.
But we can drill down even deeper into the data by visiting the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Data Viewer, which reports that the unemployment rate for the Bemidji, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area (U) was 5.6 percent in May 2014, the latest figures available.
That's nearly half the rate that McFadden shared, but William B. Laughead might be proud.
An investment banker on leave of absence from Lazard Middle Market, McFadden is predicted to win the Republican primary and face Senator Al Franken in November's general election.
Photo: Bemidji's Paul Bunyan and Babe statues, via Wikipedia.
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Looking over President Obama's speech last week at the Lake Harriet Bandshell in Minneapolis, we can't find any mention of Minnesota House District 48B candidate Sheila Kihne, who blocked party endorsement of incumbent Republican Jenifer Loon and now challenges the assistant house minority leader in the August 12 primary.
But if one were to believe the Minnesota Family Council's latest mailing to voters in the district, the President doesn't want her.
"Liberals like Obama and Franken don't want Sheila," the top of the mailer states. "Don't like them win. Plan ahead and vote early."
This is a peculiar criteria for which to ask voters to decide in a Republican primary in a suburban state house district, as we find no evidence that liberals like Obama and Franken favor Jenifer Loon, a Republican who voted against many of the state-level versions of the things President Obama lauded last week.
While the district swung to Romney in 2012, it did reject (by 60 percent) the Minnesota Family Council supported amendment to restrict the right to marry, so we're curious why voters would favor the Kihne version of "trusted conservative" over that maintained by Loon when ordered to do so by a group whose values they partially rejected in 2012.
Do Eden Prairie Republicans want a legislator beholden to one group?
Kihne campaigning on costs of marriage equality
Kihne's campaign also sent out another mail piece, which railed about the financial burden to businesses and the damage to religious freedom of Loon's "bad vote" on marriage equality.
While perhaps that pitch offers something to the more conservative slice of the Republican base in the district (if little evidence of the burdens Kihne asserts although we're sure she feels the latter), it seems weak sauce in the era of equality.
“About a year after gay marriage became legal in the state, support for it has hit an all time high in our polling with 52% of voters in favor of it to only 40% who are opposed,” according to a press release from the firm.
Approval is up from 49 percent right after same-sex marriage was legalized in 2013. It may be because most Minnesotans don’t feel same-sex marriage affects their lives; 80 percent of those surveyed said letting gay couples get married has had a positive impact or no impact at all on their lives. . . .
Do likely primary voters in Eden Prairie disagree enough to motivate a Kihne vote?
Photo: Two new pro-Kihne lit pieces in the House District 48. Submitted photo.
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One of the big surprises at the 2014 Republican Convention was the performance of Phillip Parrish in the battle for endorsement to run against Al Franken for U.S. Senate.
Outperforming Rep. Jim Abeler (Anoka) and Monte Moreno, Parrish lasted three ballots before dropping out of contention. He received 16 percent of the delegate vote on the first ballot. While investment banker Mike McFadden eventually won the endorsement, Matt Hudson reports in the Owatonna People's Press that Parrish considers his own Senate campaign a success.
Mostly, it's about the relationships, says the systems administrator and Naval Reserves intelligence officer who has returned to his work overseas:
“I feel pretty good,” Parrish said. “I mean, we literally built connections and relationships and people connected with what I was saying.”
Parrish, who was born in Blue Earth and grew up in Medford, said he met many people in person and on social media who shared his views on the state of the federal government. He said his campaign connected with a lot of people even though a lot of the connecting was done from England, where he works.
With tea party affiliations and a constitutionalist outlook, Parrish engaged the campaign like a mission. He expressed that he was “gravely concerned” with the country and spoke of cover-ups and ill-intent at the hands of current officials. Democratic leadership, he said, is full of “globalists” and “elitists” who don’t look after the public welfare. . . .
That's all pretty spooky for sure.
Republicans are now urging him to run for the state senate in 2016, according to the most recent OOP story.
To Phillip Parrish, Washington, D.C., is full of dark secrets, false narratives and manufactured cover-ups. And he’s upset about it. . . .
His interest in politics began in high school when he did grassroots campaigning for Steve Sviggum, former Minnesota state representative.
In 2006, he launched his first campaign and attempted to enter the Minnesota gubernatorial race. As a former teacher, he wanted to correct what he considered to be bad practices in special education reform.
It was another case of the government pulling the wool over people’s eyes, he said.
“Another agenda was spun up and kept in the forefront to stay away from a special education agenda that a few people had in the Department of Education,” Parrish said.
Parrish ran without the endorsement of a major political party and failed to collect enough signatures to make the ballot. The incumbent, Republican Tim Pawlenty, went on to win the election. . . .
This will be one to watch.
Photo: A random Naval Intelligence patch we found online. Phillip Parrish knows dark things you don't, or so he tells the Owatonna People's Press.
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U.S. Sen. Al Franken and U.S. Reps. Tim Walz and Collin Peterson are among a growing number of Democratic lawmakers calling for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign after an inspector general’s report that found “systemic” problems at VA medical facilities.
The interim investigative report released Wednesday found at least 1,700 veterans waiting for health care at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs medical facility were not included on the facility’s wait list, and patients there waited an average of 115 days for their first appointments.
The report also documents schemes used at VA facilities intended to conceal wait times and concluded that the problems are national in scope. . . .
Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan called for Shinseki’s resignation last week. Among the Republicans in the Minnesota delegation U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann and John Kline also want him out.
Walz issued a statement:
Today, Representative Tim Walz (MN-01), Member of the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the highest ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress, released the following statement after the VA Inspector General released an interim report substantiating serious concerns at the Phoenix VA medical facility.
“My number one goal as both a veteran and a Member of the VA Committee is to ensure our veterans get the support and care they have earned and deserve. The findings in the VA Inspector General’s interim report are inexcusable and unacceptable. The IG’s report makes it clear that some veterans have been let down in unfathomable ways and those responsible must be held accountable.
“Secretary Shinseki is one of the most honorable and loyal men I have ever met. He's dedicated his entire life to the betterment of our nation and caring for our brave men and women in uniform. It’s a shame that he and other veterans were let down by certain people working under him at the VA, but ultimately the buck stops with the Secretary. That is why today, I believe it would be best if Secretary Shinseki stepped down. We need to fix the systemic problems outlined in the IG report and restore veterans’ faith in the system.”
Photo: Minneapolis VA Medical Center.
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After months of sphinx-like silence, investment banker and United States senate candidate Mike McFadden is finally sharing his positions, which include adopting the military as the model of "limited but effective government," while evoking pity for PolyMet for having to suffer through environmental review.
As for his view of fellow Republicans, McFadden says they have long expressed a message of limited but effective government, but have fallen short in helping deliver on the "effective" part of the agenda. He says the U.S. military is a standard of effectiveness, and it is this model that should be adopted elsewhere in the federal government.
We're left scratching our heads at that one, having heard some rather shocking stories from friends serving in the military about the cost and waste of the military procurement system, as well as in general operations.
Discussing these issues and others at the local Culligan dealership, McFadden, 48, used the Polymet mining proposal in northern Minnesota as a lesson. It would involve tapping an estimated $10 billion worth of copper. McFadden says getting a yes or no answer on whether the project can move forward has taken more than seven years and cost more than $150 million, with no resolution.
"What an inefficient, ineffective process," McFadden said. "This is a case study in what is wrong with government."
He noted that in even a nation with stricter environmental laws, such as Germany, a project gets a yes or no answer so that everyone can move on. And noting American innovation, McFadden said hearing a "no" in the United States would mean people getting to work to find solutions to barriers, so that industry and the environment could co-exist.
Politicians, media personalities and loved ones saluted retiring U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann on Friday night in the same building where she first was endorsed for a U.S. House run eight years ago. . . .
Actor Jon Voight, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, media personalities Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity — and in a surprise twist, U.S. Sen. Al Franken, DFL-Minn. — were among those who provided personal video messages for the event. . . .
U.S. Sen. Al Franken list[ed] the things he and Bachmann agree on -- like disliking Asian carp and liking the Twins.
Judging from Belden and Sommerhauser's descriptions, the rest of the speakers were standard Bachmann fare. Bluestem fodder favorite Allen Quist compared Bachmann to King David:
"If you understand David and Goliath, you'll understand Michele Bachmann," Quist said. Bachmann "inspires people because she answers the call. She always answers the call.
"That inspires the rest of us to join in."
But we're wondering if Garrison Keillor had this in mind when he developed the setting for A Prairie Home Companion:
Bachmann said she rarely struggled with how to vote on Congress, because she knew her district and she knew herself.
"This is Lake Wobegon. It's my district," Bachmann said. "I knew you, and I knew what you would want."
Well then.
Photo: Senator Franken and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann share a dislike of Asian carp, like this one.
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. . . The last time we heard from Senator Franken on Obamacare was nearly 5 months ago when he promised to hold the Administration accountable for its catastrophic rollout (Star Tribune, 11/06/13). ...
There's more of the same, but we suspect that the interns on Franklin Avenue don't much understand the importance of keyword selection. Indeed, when Bluestem plugged "Al Franken" and "Affordable Care Act" (since slang doesn't always work so well in these sorts of things), interesting items turned up.
U.S. Democratic senators introduced legislation on Friday that would attempt to make health care more affordable for small business owners by, among other things, improving access to small business health care tax credits and making the credits available for longer.
The Small Business Tax Credits Accessibility Act, brought forth on Friday by U.S. Senator Mark Begich, D-Alaska, aims to improve upon the Affordable Care Act and make health care more accessible by expanding tax credits to small businesses in order to ensure they are able to "compete and grow." . . .
Senator Al Franken is cited:
Franken said in a statement on Friday that the bill would help simplify what has become a troublesome process.
"Right now, the process for small businesses in Minnesota and across the country to get tax credits through the health reform law is overly burdensome and complex," Franken said. "This bill would simplify it, while also making more Minnesota small businesses eligible for the support they need to provide coverage to their employees."
There's that. Perhaps the Republican Party of Minnesota doesn't fancy that the concerns of small business matter.
S ome recipes for news are too good to rewrite. Here's one such press release:
Today, Minnesota's Congressional Delegation came together for U.S. Sen. Al Franken’s (D-Minn.) fourth annual hotdish competition. Sen. Franken started the friendly “Hotdish Off” as a way to bring the delegation together and celebrate a Minnesota culinary tradition. Rep. Tim Walz’s (D-Minn) “Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish” took first place, and tying for second was Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s “’It’s So Cold My Hotdish Froze’ Dessert Hotdish” and Rep. John Kline’s (R-Minn.) “Morning ‘Hot Chow’ Hotdish.” Participants' recipes can be found here.
“It’s a great day when the Minnesota delegation is able to put our differences aside and enjoy some great hotdishes,” said Sen. Franken. “I want to thank all my colleagues for participating in today’s competition, and a huge congratulations to Tim for his winning Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish. It was delicious.”
“Thank you to Senator Franken and his staff for putting this annual, bipartisan event on and for allowing us all to share our hotdish recipes. I’m honored that our Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish won this year, making southern Minnesota back-to-back hotdish champions. The good folks in Worthington who celebrate King Turkey Days should know that, at least for today, turkey reigns supreme in Washington as well,” said winner Rep. Tim Walz.
“This Minnesota winter has been so cold that even my hotdish couldn’t escape the freezing temperatures,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “The dish has a virtual polar vortex of flavor that sent a shiver down the spine of the competition and gave the judges goosebumps. While it ultimately got iced out of first place, I want to wish a very warm congratulations to Rep. Walz for his delicious (and hot!) dish.”
"The Hunter's Hotdish is a perfect way to use up that venison in the freezer as you're thinking about next fall's hunt," said Rep. Collin Peterson. "This crunchy tater tot topping is something everyone can agree on."
“Hotdish is a Minnesota tradition and coming together to share food, recipes and companionship is a great way to honor the neighborly spirit that makes Minnesota such a great place to live,” said Rep. Betty McCollum
“I enjoy the chance to take a brief moment to come together with my fellow Minnesotans, especially over something as uniquely Minnesotan as hotdish,” said Rep. John Kline. “Equally as enjoyable were the dishes today and I want to congratulate Rep. Walz on a well-deserved victory.”
“I look forward to the hot dish competition each year. Our recipes are as diverse as our politics, but we can all agree that a good hot dish is a staple on kitchen tables across Minnesota. Not only do we get to enjoy a little taste of home, it is a bipartisan opportunity to celebrate the community and traditions that make Minnesota the greatest state,” said Rep. Michele Bachmann.
“I want to thank Senator Franken and the whole Minnesota congressional delegation for putting on the 4th Annual Hotdish Competition,” said Rep. Keith Ellison. “There are a lot of great Minnesota traditions, few more delicious than the Pride of the 5th Hotdish.”
“We demonstrated today that of Minnesota’s four essential food groups – coffee, bars, jello, and hotdish – hotdish once again reigns supreme,” said Rep. Rick Nolan.
“Minnesotans have long gathered around the kitchen table to enjoy a Hotdish,” said Rep. Erik Paulsen. “I always enjoy how this friendly competition makes it possible for each of us in the delegation to bring some of that home-cooking with us to Washington. While I don’t know how the judges can ever pick just one winner, I congratulate Rep. Walz on taking home the prize with his Hotdish this year.”
After blind taste testing each member's hotdish, former Congressmen Vin Weber (R-Minn.) and Gerry Sikorski (D-Minn.), named Rep. Tim Walz’ "Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish" the winner of the 2014 Hotdish off. Minnesota native Dan Meyer acted as the Master of Ceremonies for the event.
The other members prepared the following hotdishes: Sen. Klobuchar made ‘It’s So Cold My Hotdish Froze’ Dessert Hotdish; Sen. Franken made Grandma Phoebe’s Sunday Supper Hotdish; Rep. Peterson made Hunter’s Hotdish; Rep. McCollum made Minnesota Wild Rice and Chicken Hotdish; Rep. Kline made Morning ‘Hot Chow’ Hotdish; Rep. Bachmann made Polar Vortex-Mex Hotdish; Rep. Ellison made Pride of the 5th Hotdish; Rep. Walz made Turkey Trot Tator Tot Hotdish; Rep. Nolan made Ranger’s Hunting Camp Hotdish; and Rep. Paulsen made Grandma’s Minnesota Nice Mock Lasagna.
Last year, Rep. Walz’s “Hermann the German Hotdish” took first place. In 2012, Sen. Franken’s “Mom's Mahnomin Madness Hotdish” and former Rep. Chip Cravaack’s (R-Minn.) “Minnesota Wild Strata Hotdish” tied for first place. Sen. Klobuchar took top honors in 2011 with her “Taconite Tater-Tot Hotdish.”
Photo: Tim Walz's Turkey Trot Tator Tot Hotdish.
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"I really came to hear about what you are experiencing," Franken said in his opening comments to the 15 people who braved the cold to take part in the discussion. "Are producers taking advantage of people's anxieties and trying to profit from this terrible situation? That's what I'm trying to find out."
Franken heard from hosts Steven Read and Jodi Ohlsen Read, Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman and members of various local organizations who were there seeking answers to some of the problems their clients have been facing because of the crisis.
Here's a video from the meeting at Shepherd's Way Farm, which crafted artisan cheese from its sustainably raised sheep. Quadrupling propane prices are a lot of cheese Steven Read tells Franken:
Photo: Cheese.
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All of the statements, opinions, and views expressed on this site by Sally Jo Sorensen are solely her own, save when she attributes them to other sources.
The opinions, statements, and views of contributing writers are their own.
Sorensen, editor and proprietor of Bluestem Prairie, serves clients in the business and nonprofit sectors. While progressive in outlook, she does not caucus with any political party.
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