From the letters in today's Strib
• Fiscal conservatives will not object if the programs are run properly. After all, fiscal conservatives recognize good value.
• Social conservatives will not object so long as only those who are truly in need receive the benefits. Government programs always seem to become bloated and all-inclusive. (Including everyone is merely a way to buy votes with the taxpayers' money.)
If the Star Tribune would really like to see bipartisanship, it needs to stop the divisive rhetoric. Conservatives have good ideas, too. All we ask is accountability, and when we see a program that isn't working properly we no longer want to fund the program. Sorta like wanting to cut off funding for the war in Iraq.
So with a half trillion dollars spent in Iraq, do you see this as proper and accountable way to spend our tax payer money? Good value? Half a trillion dollars for the execution of a despot?
Sunday, December 31, 2006
The Gophers
Friday night, beyond cooking some world class stir fry and sipping on some yummy cocktails, I was glued to the TV watching the news on Saddam. Therefore, I missed out on the Gophers football game.
Jason and I talked later in the night, after Matt called him to tell him how impressive the Gophers were, being ahead 35-7 at halftime. I was just as shocked at Jason.
I never checked out the score again...until I picked up the Strib on Saturday morning.
Wow...Fire Glen Mason now! The Gophers collapsed...lost 44-41 in overtime.
So Sid Hartman devoted about 4 column inches, of his 100, to talking about the Gopher debacle. He's the biggest Mason apologist around.
He also wrote about the Twins Stadium problems to acquire the land for the stadium.
Ah Sid...just stop!
At least the Huskies won (swept a tourney) again!
Jason and I talked later in the night, after Matt called him to tell him how impressive the Gophers were, being ahead 35-7 at halftime. I was just as shocked at Jason.
I never checked out the score again...until I picked up the Strib on Saturday morning.
Wow...Fire Glen Mason now! The Gophers collapsed...lost 44-41 in overtime.
So Sid Hartman devoted about 4 column inches, of his 100, to talking about the Gopher debacle. He's the biggest Mason apologist around.
He also wrote about the Twins Stadium problems to acquire the land for the stadium.
Ah Sid...just stop!
At least the Huskies won (swept a tourney) again!
The execution
The execution of Saddam Hussein will be one of those moments I will never forget.
We have all seen the footage of his demise, and have witnessed the impact Hussein has had on world politics. No less than 3 wars and an invasion have occurred in no small part to this man, an invasion of Kuwait, 2 wars with the United States and one with Iran. Millions of people have died as a result of his actions.
And I am skeptical that his execution was not only the done at the right time, but whether it was right at all.
I ponder his execution as a former soldier, a veteran. With nearly 3000 of my collegaues having been killed in Iraq, 9 of them I knew personally...is this what we invaded Iraq for? "Mission Accomplished" PRECEDED the deaths of 2861 soliders.
I took an oath 4 times, "To support and defend the Constitution of the United States...to obey the orders of the Officers appointed over me and the President of the United States, so help me God." I took that oath, in a good faith contract that those appointed over me (Officers and our Commander in Chief), would never put us in harms way without proper evidence. Our soldiers have died on a throne of lies, led by our President.
I ponder this from the perspective of the Kurdish people, like my friend Kani Xulam. Kani and his family fled persecution in Turkey and genocide at the hands of Saddam Hussein, coming to America to find a better life. They have had to fight deporation regularly, knowing if they go back to Turkey they will be executed. Back to Iraq? They will be oppressed by Sunni's and the Shitte's.
The Kurdish population never recieved the justice they deserved. Yes, a brutal dictator was executed. But, they did not get the opportunity to confront that man who killed their mother, father, and other loved ones.
The most horrendous aspect of the Kurdish genocide were the chemical attacks on Halabja. We have all seen the picture of the mother holding the infant, lying in street. Dead from a chemical agent attack.
1. Saddam got those chemical weapons from the US and other Western nations.
2. You cannot tell me the United States knew nothing of the Anfal Campaign, and the attacks using chemical weapons. These attacks occurred from the Spring of 1987 through the fall of 1988. Similar, though not proportionately, to the Holocaust, the United States had information and simply did not act.
Why?
At that time, Iran was a bigger evil than Iraq, and we supported Iraq. That bit us in the ass...
The Anfal campaign destroyed some 4000 Iraqi Kurd villages, wiping out 90% of everything in the villages targeted, hospitals, schools, utilities, churches.
Upwards of 182,000 Kurds were killed as a result of this genocidal ehtnic cleansing campaign.
Yet, Saddam will never stand trial for these actions. For that, I am sad, sad for my friend Kani and others who have fled the violence of Saddam Hussein.
What would have happened in the Nuermburg trials if the conspirators were tried and executed on the first charge, participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against peace.
Or the second charge, planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace.
These "evil doers" would never have been tried for the more henious charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
All I ask for is a consistent ethic of life and a consistent application of justice.
I am not an advocate of the death penalty. I believe, especially in the pro-life conservatives who are pro-death penalty, it creates an inconsistent ethic of life.
I will be anxiously awaiting my next opportunity to have dinner with Kani to discuss these events. I just hope any expanding violence can be slowed...
We have all seen the footage of his demise, and have witnessed the impact Hussein has had on world politics. No less than 3 wars and an invasion have occurred in no small part to this man, an invasion of Kuwait, 2 wars with the United States and one with Iran. Millions of people have died as a result of his actions.
And I am skeptical that his execution was not only the done at the right time, but whether it was right at all.
I ponder his execution as a former soldier, a veteran. With nearly 3000 of my collegaues having been killed in Iraq, 9 of them I knew personally...is this what we invaded Iraq for? "Mission Accomplished" PRECEDED the deaths of 2861 soliders.
I took an oath 4 times, "To support and defend the Constitution of the United States...to obey the orders of the Officers appointed over me and the President of the United States, so help me God." I took that oath, in a good faith contract that those appointed over me (Officers and our Commander in Chief), would never put us in harms way without proper evidence. Our soldiers have died on a throne of lies, led by our President.
I ponder this from the perspective of the Kurdish people, like my friend Kani Xulam. Kani and his family fled persecution in Turkey and genocide at the hands of Saddam Hussein, coming to America to find a better life. They have had to fight deporation regularly, knowing if they go back to Turkey they will be executed. Back to Iraq? They will be oppressed by Sunni's and the Shitte's.
The Kurdish population never recieved the justice they deserved. Yes, a brutal dictator was executed. But, they did not get the opportunity to confront that man who killed their mother, father, and other loved ones.
The most horrendous aspect of the Kurdish genocide were the chemical attacks on Halabja. We have all seen the picture of the mother holding the infant, lying in street. Dead from a chemical agent attack.
1. Saddam got those chemical weapons from the US and other Western nations.
2. You cannot tell me the United States knew nothing of the Anfal Campaign, and the attacks using chemical weapons. These attacks occurred from the Spring of 1987 through the fall of 1988. Similar, though not proportionately, to the Holocaust, the United States had information and simply did not act.
Why?
At that time, Iran was a bigger evil than Iraq, and we supported Iraq. That bit us in the ass...
The Anfal campaign destroyed some 4000 Iraqi Kurd villages, wiping out 90% of everything in the villages targeted, hospitals, schools, utilities, churches.
Upwards of 182,000 Kurds were killed as a result of this genocidal ehtnic cleansing campaign.
Yet, Saddam will never stand trial for these actions. For that, I am sad, sad for my friend Kani and others who have fled the violence of Saddam Hussein.
What would have happened in the Nuermburg trials if the conspirators were tried and executed on the first charge, participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against peace.
Or the second charge, planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace.
These "evil doers" would never have been tried for the more henious charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
All I ask for is a consistent ethic of life and a consistent application of justice.
I am not an advocate of the death penalty. I believe, especially in the pro-life conservatives who are pro-death penalty, it creates an inconsistent ethic of life.
I will be anxiously awaiting my next opportunity to have dinner with Kani to discuss these events. I just hope any expanding violence can be slowed...
Friday, December 29, 2006
As St Paul goes, so goes the nation
The New York Times published a story on the changes recently in Minnesota politics.
"Minnesota’s capital is in many ways the perfect petri dish for testing what the nation’s new political landscape may produce. Once predictably Democratic in national politics, the anchor of Upper Midwest liberal populism from the 1920s through Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, Minnesota is now considered a battleground, with the Republicans scheduled to hold their national convention in 2008 in Minneapolis and St. Paul around that declaration."
All political eyes will be on Minnesota, as neo-con Michele Bachmann heads to her first term in Congress and Tim Pawlenty leverages when political capitol he has remaining for a possible VP run, the 08 GOP convention will be an enormous stage for conservatives in MN. It's sad that the DFL had a shot at getting the 08 convention here but could not come through.
"But they emerged divided, too, owing much of their surge to newly elected moderates from the suburbs who are unlikely to embrace a pure liberal agenda. The Republicans lost big, but were pushed toward the center as well, led by Mr. Pawlenty, who has said since the election that many of his second-term priorities will overlap with those of the Democrats he fiercely battled in his first four years."
Indeed, the GOP has shifted from its base to the center. Tom Emmer discussed it on KTLK a few nights ago and many conservative bloggers state that scenario as the reason for the GOP ineptness in the 06 elections. Some will argue that they were not pushed to the center, but sold out the party...are purely RINO's (Republican's In Name Only).
Pawlenty states in the article,
“Republicans love to talk about markets — well, the market just told Republicans something,” he said. “The market just told them, ‘We’re not interested much in your product, and we’re choosing to go to your competitor.’ We need to hear that message.”
Steve Swiggum was not as nice...
The departing speaker, Steve Sviggum, a Republican who will begin his 15th two-year term in the House when the session starts Jan. 3, said that in reading the election, Minnesota Republicans would be wrong to abandon their message of fiscal restraint and economic freedom or to see the vote as an endorsement of all things Democratic.
“It was about George W. Bush,” Mr. Sviggum said in his office, which was lined with boxes ready for his move downstairs.
The NYT has pledged to follow the Minnesota Legislature as we move closer to the 08 Conventions and election. With session starting on January 3rd, we may quickly see an erosion of positivity?
Who knows!
"Minnesota’s capital is in many ways the perfect petri dish for testing what the nation’s new political landscape may produce. Once predictably Democratic in national politics, the anchor of Upper Midwest liberal populism from the 1920s through Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, Minnesota is now considered a battleground, with the Republicans scheduled to hold their national convention in 2008 in Minneapolis and St. Paul around that declaration."
All political eyes will be on Minnesota, as neo-con Michele Bachmann heads to her first term in Congress and Tim Pawlenty leverages when political capitol he has remaining for a possible VP run, the 08 GOP convention will be an enormous stage for conservatives in MN. It's sad that the DFL had a shot at getting the 08 convention here but could not come through.
"But they emerged divided, too, owing much of their surge to newly elected moderates from the suburbs who are unlikely to embrace a pure liberal agenda. The Republicans lost big, but were pushed toward the center as well, led by Mr. Pawlenty, who has said since the election that many of his second-term priorities will overlap with those of the Democrats he fiercely battled in his first four years."
Indeed, the GOP has shifted from its base to the center. Tom Emmer discussed it on KTLK a few nights ago and many conservative bloggers state that scenario as the reason for the GOP ineptness in the 06 elections. Some will argue that they were not pushed to the center, but sold out the party...are purely RINO's (Republican's In Name Only).
Pawlenty states in the article,
“Republicans love to talk about markets — well, the market just told Republicans something,” he said. “The market just told them, ‘We’re not interested much in your product, and we’re choosing to go to your competitor.’ We need to hear that message.”
Steve Swiggum was not as nice...
The departing speaker, Steve Sviggum, a Republican who will begin his 15th two-year term in the House when the session starts Jan. 3, said that in reading the election, Minnesota Republicans would be wrong to abandon their message of fiscal restraint and economic freedom or to see the vote as an endorsement of all things Democratic.
“It was about George W. Bush,” Mr. Sviggum said in his office, which was lined with boxes ready for his move downstairs.
The NYT has pledged to follow the Minnesota Legislature as we move closer to the 08 Conventions and election. With session starting on January 3rd, we may quickly see an erosion of positivity?
Who knows!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Tuition Freeze for our College Students?
Two years ago, I was one of many students who rallied and lobbied legislators for a Tuition Freeze. I got Representative Dean Urdahl to sign on as a co-sponsor in the House and then Senator Dave Kleis from St Cloud to sponsor the bill in the Senate. We did meet with many local legislators, including Senator Dille, Rep Bruce Anderson, Representative Emmer, Representative Olson and many others. Urdahl and Kleis were the only leaders who tried to help us out.
So, with higher education being an area Governor Pawlenty gutted to balance the state budget in 2003, he now sees the impact?
According to the Startribune...
"The governor said he would sign that legislation if it passed," Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung said of a freeze Thursday after Seifert announced his proposal. While Pawlenty has not proposed a freeze, "he believes that tuition rates have increased too quickly in recent years," McClung said. The governor has proposed a plan that would provide free college tuition to high achieving students."
Wow, the Governor will sign a bill freezing tuition? Wow...I am actually shocked. I never thought I would see this happen.
But, it does not come without some controversey.
"A one-year fix is all well and good, but students go to college for at least four years," said Rep. Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, the incoming majority leader, who dubbed the House Republican proposal "a one-time gimmick."
Two years ago, we understood the impact of a tuition freeze. We knew it was a band-aid solution. However, the work by students over the past two years has had an enormous impact on the movement in higher ed. A freeze forces schools to find and sustain efficiencies within the system.
"Seifert said rosier state budget forecasts make it possible to consider using state appropriations to help finance a tuition freeze, but he stressed that spending cuts could accomplish much of the job."
"For someone to tell me there isn't one ounce of fat from top to bottom at the University of Minnesota, I just think it's just not credible," Seifert said
Session begins next week! It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Nonetheless, it should be a good year for higher education.
So, with higher education being an area Governor Pawlenty gutted to balance the state budget in 2003, he now sees the impact?
According to the Startribune...
"The governor said he would sign that legislation if it passed," Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung said of a freeze Thursday after Seifert announced his proposal. While Pawlenty has not proposed a freeze, "he believes that tuition rates have increased too quickly in recent years," McClung said. The governor has proposed a plan that would provide free college tuition to high achieving students."
Wow, the Governor will sign a bill freezing tuition? Wow...I am actually shocked. I never thought I would see this happen.
But, it does not come without some controversey.
"A one-year fix is all well and good, but students go to college for at least four years," said Rep. Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, the incoming majority leader, who dubbed the House Republican proposal "a one-time gimmick."
Two years ago, we understood the impact of a tuition freeze. We knew it was a band-aid solution. However, the work by students over the past two years has had an enormous impact on the movement in higher ed. A freeze forces schools to find and sustain efficiencies within the system.
"Seifert said rosier state budget forecasts make it possible to consider using state appropriations to help finance a tuition freeze, but he stressed that spending cuts could accomplish much of the job."
"For someone to tell me there isn't one ounce of fat from top to bottom at the University of Minnesota, I just think it's just not credible," Seifert said
Session begins next week! It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Nonetheless, it should be a good year for higher education.
Gerald Ford
I've taken some time to ponder the impact of President Ford's presidency. The actions of President Ford embody the American Way. He was not supposed to be the President. Yet, despite what he wanted to do, be Speaker of the House, he rose to the occassion and led this country through some of our darkest moments, a Presidential resignation and an unpopular war.
Some have tried to compare Bush 43 to President Ford, in that they have led a nation through difficult times. They also cite both President's strong religious faith. Some conservative callers last night on a local Twin Cities talk show stated Bush has actually had a more difficult time as he has drawn great media scrutiny.
Times are much different even over 2 decades. The internet boom has gotten information to a greater number of people. Our nation is polarized. Fewer Americans, IMO, are moderate.
What goes undiscussed though is that President Ford had great personal relationships because of his time in Congress. As President, he golfed with Democrats. Can you imagine that happening now? He served 12 terms in the House. President Ford was a true statesman who could move across party lines to get things done.
After his death, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post released an interview with the late President. Ford did not support the war in Iraq.
"Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction," Ford said. "And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."
He will always be remembered for his integrity and willingness to be a public servant.
Some have tried to compare Bush 43 to President Ford, in that they have led a nation through difficult times. They also cite both President's strong religious faith. Some conservative callers last night on a local Twin Cities talk show stated Bush has actually had a more difficult time as he has drawn great media scrutiny.
Times are much different even over 2 decades. The internet boom has gotten information to a greater number of people. Our nation is polarized. Fewer Americans, IMO, are moderate.
What goes undiscussed though is that President Ford had great personal relationships because of his time in Congress. As President, he golfed with Democrats. Can you imagine that happening now? He served 12 terms in the House. President Ford was a true statesman who could move across party lines to get things done.
After his death, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post released an interview with the late President. Ford did not support the war in Iraq.
"Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction," Ford said. "And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."
He will always be remembered for his integrity and willingness to be a public servant.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
A local twist on smoking bans
Talk of smoking bans a flying around the media and the blogosphere. At work tonight, I was listening to 100.3, KTLK...conservative talk radio. Thanks to my avid reader who called me to tell me Tom Emmer would be on. It was an interesting show.
Sue Jeffers and Dan Codrie were on with him. Emmer was interesting to say the least. Sue was beaming over the Emmer letter, published widely.
She scolded any anti-smoking callers citing her references yet called coffee more dangerous than cigarettes as "19 of 20 chemicals in coffee kill rats".
Where is the scientific support on that Sue? Are you saying second hand smoke has no effect on people? It's not harmful? See here...ah heck...don't make me post a few hundred links that tell us the peril of second hand smoke. Are we really going through this debate?
Hutchinson recently passed a ban on smoking in public areas in the city as well. Unless it is challegened in court, highly unlikely, it will begin this summer.
Meeker County has a current ban that is highly popular, with almost 3/4 of registered voters surveyed in September were in support.
The only thing that gets anything close to 75% support in Meeker County is Steve Dille. Trust me, I know.
Sue Jeffers and Dan Codrie were on with him. Emmer was interesting to say the least. Sue was beaming over the Emmer letter, published widely.
She scolded any anti-smoking callers citing her references yet called coffee more dangerous than cigarettes as "19 of 20 chemicals in coffee kill rats".
Where is the scientific support on that Sue? Are you saying second hand smoke has no effect on people? It's not harmful? See here...ah heck...don't make me post a few hundred links that tell us the peril of second hand smoke. Are we really going through this debate?
Hutchinson recently passed a ban on smoking in public areas in the city as well. Unless it is challegened in court, highly unlikely, it will begin this summer.
Meeker County has a current ban that is highly popular, with almost 3/4 of registered voters surveyed in September were in support.
The only thing that gets anything close to 75% support in Meeker County is Steve Dille. Trust me, I know.
Emmer's LTE in the Advocate
The same letter as the one printed in the SC Times was published in the Advocate.
To use one of my favorite Star Wars lines (Obi Wan Kenobi)...
"I know what I must do."
To use one of my favorite Star Wars lines (Obi Wan Kenobi)...
"I know what I must do."
Worst Politcal Persons in the State, 2006
From MnpACT!
#9 -- Tim Pawlenty: This is the GOP governor who said at his endorsing convention, "Now I know I may not be in some of your wildest dreams but I can tell you what your worst nightmare is," Pawlenty told delegates at his party's state convention. "It's one of the big spendin', tax raisin', abortion promotin', gay marriage embracin', more-welfare-without-accountability lovin', school-reform resistin', illegal-immigration supportin' Democrats for governor who think Hillary Clinton should be president of the United States." After all that chest thumpin' talk, the "new, I almost got beat" Pawlenty takes abortion and gay marriage off the table.... tax pledges are out; new budget priorities are in; health care spending is also in; education spending overrides reform; and illegal immigration measures will be shoved to the side to keep McCain happy. The only thing left on that diatribe that still operates is that he won't endorse Hillary Clinton for President......and that's only because he thinks he'll be on the GOP ticket against her. This guy takes 47% opportunism to new heights....
TPaw the moderate, pushing for the VP position in 08?
#7 -- Rep. Mark Olson: The only reason he isn't higher on the list is that we have no conviction...(yet)...on his domestic assault charge. The logical thing that would have made the most sense in this bizarre circumstance, would be for him to offer a resignation or, at the very least, take a leave of absence while all this shakes out. Rep. Olson apparently thinks he can weather the storm even when his Republican cohorts give him a no confidence vote. What will he call his caucus of one? The Lonely Guy Caucus?
I'd have rated him higher, conviction or not...but not ahead of...
#6 -- Michele Bachmann: Where do we begin? I know it is hard to believe that someone who has God's stamp of approval can be on this list, but I'm doing it anyway. Don't pity this "fool" for Christ. She is an armed and dangerous Christian soldier. She has devoted herself to be the last line of defense against "gay marriage" and for the 3 day Congressional work week. Michele plans to take the 110th Congress by storm. Anyone taking bets on how long it will take her to say something truly assinine? Anyone?
#6? I get it, but...only #6? I'd have had her in my top 2!
#4 -- Mary Kiffmeyer: Her quest for welding the Constitution and the Ten Commandments together has been temporarily derailed. Her defeat at the hands of Mark Ritchie was no fault of her own, of course, and the partisanship she always displayed was simply all in how you look at it. As she rants about how badly she has been treated, both by her predecessor and successor, you have to wonder how she will ever get a fair shake. But she is certainly looking ahead, as she has Michael Brodkorb tagging along to snakebite anybody who dares cross her. Maybe she should have been one of those tabloid journalists -- they take hyberbole like hers seriously.
She'd be in the lower top 10...but we post this, hoping she runs to replace Mark Olson.
#1 -- Michael Brodkorb: My 2006 worst person in Minnesota has redefined the Minnesota blog-o-sphere. Blogs used to be a genuine discussion of events and positions; they admittedly have slanted points of view, but that's usually not hidden from the reader-- they editorialize but don't pretend to be giving "hard" news....however, thanks to Brodkorb, blogs are rapidly becoming just another arm of political campaigns; operated by former campaign staffers and political hacks and working to influence or manipulate the mainstream media in any manner they can. It has gotten so out of hand, that Mary Kiffmeyer invites Brodkorb to a transition meeting with newly elected Mark Ritchie....for purposes only apparent to Kiffmeyer herself.... but we know Brodkorb's agenda is to simply "hatchet" another Democrat. To be fair, Brodkorb isn't the only one that has lowered the bar for political discourse. There are plenty on the left that are all too willing to take up the gauntlet. But Brodkorb envisions himself as some kind of "investigative" reporter.... with little or no regard for both sides of the issue and even less for factual content. He only looks for the negative... and only items that expose political "opponents". His news flashes are one-sided and distorted as much as possible. But given all that, Brodkorb might be simply ranting in obscurity if not for the local media's willing obsession to pick up the "negative" story, at the expense of examining issue content. Politics has been reduced to the lowest common denominator....thanks, partially, to Michael Brodkorb--- Minnesota's Worst Person in the State!
Since I am now in Vikings draft mode, MDE at #1 is a bust. His selection as Number 1 is a draft bust of Tony Mandarich proportions, Packer fans...you know what I mean!
My Top 10?
LOL, here we go!
10. Patty Wetterling. Ran a horrible campaign. Outraised her opponent significantly and could not carry a swing district in a strong Democratic year. I was so disappointed.
9. Matt Entenza. Sorry I had to put another DFLer up here, but his problems, which should have been fully vetted as a candidate, put the party at risk early in the election cycle. Then, lobbying with Conservative PAC's against DFLers for Law Enforcement? Come on Matt...
9. Mary Kiffmeyer...nuff said.
8. Michael Barrett. Had no plan, purely ran on immigration issues. His signs were outrageous. "Stop the Invasion!" Collin whiped him!
7. Bachmann supporters. Those that put Bachmann stickers on Wetterling and other DFL signs, as well as marched through the DFL contingent at some parades. Oh I wish they had tried to do that to me...
6. GOP Bloggers (MDE and his colleagues). The National Enquirer has more integrity.
5. Governor Pawlenty. Has never won a Statewide election with more than 50% 0f the vote. Has now become a moderate, advocating for many of the areas he gouged in 2003.
4. MCCL: Continuing your practice of flyering cars in Church parking lots the weekend prior to the election...stay classy MCCL.
3. Mark Olson. Search my blog if you have any questions.
2. Ron Carey. GOP Chair. His daily press releases coming after DFLer's for anything and everything really got old. Plus, he screwed the GOP over, had no plan
1. Michele Bachmann. She was divisive and to steal a Boschwitz line, "Embarassingly Conservative". Wonkette has high expectations for her...
There is my Top 10. Just like Fox, "Fair and Balanced"
#9 -- Tim Pawlenty: This is the GOP governor who said at his endorsing convention, "Now I know I may not be in some of your wildest dreams but I can tell you what your worst nightmare is," Pawlenty told delegates at his party's state convention. "It's one of the big spendin', tax raisin', abortion promotin', gay marriage embracin', more-welfare-without-accountability lovin', school-reform resistin', illegal-immigration supportin' Democrats for governor who think Hillary Clinton should be president of the United States." After all that chest thumpin' talk, the "new, I almost got beat" Pawlenty takes abortion and gay marriage off the table.... tax pledges are out; new budget priorities are in; health care spending is also in; education spending overrides reform; and illegal immigration measures will be shoved to the side to keep McCain happy. The only thing left on that diatribe that still operates is that he won't endorse Hillary Clinton for President......and that's only because he thinks he'll be on the GOP ticket against her. This guy takes 47% opportunism to new heights....
TPaw the moderate, pushing for the VP position in 08?
#7 -- Rep. Mark Olson: The only reason he isn't higher on the list is that we have no conviction...(yet)...on his domestic assault charge. The logical thing that would have made the most sense in this bizarre circumstance, would be for him to offer a resignation or, at the very least, take a leave of absence while all this shakes out. Rep. Olson apparently thinks he can weather the storm even when his Republican cohorts give him a no confidence vote. What will he call his caucus of one? The Lonely Guy Caucus?
I'd have rated him higher, conviction or not...but not ahead of...
#6 -- Michele Bachmann: Where do we begin? I know it is hard to believe that someone who has God's stamp of approval can be on this list, but I'm doing it anyway. Don't pity this "fool" for Christ. She is an armed and dangerous Christian soldier. She has devoted herself to be the last line of defense against "gay marriage" and for the 3 day Congressional work week. Michele plans to take the 110th Congress by storm. Anyone taking bets on how long it will take her to say something truly assinine? Anyone?
#6? I get it, but...only #6? I'd have had her in my top 2!
#4 -- Mary Kiffmeyer: Her quest for welding the Constitution and the Ten Commandments together has been temporarily derailed. Her defeat at the hands of Mark Ritchie was no fault of her own, of course, and the partisanship she always displayed was simply all in how you look at it. As she rants about how badly she has been treated, both by her predecessor and successor, you have to wonder how she will ever get a fair shake. But she is certainly looking ahead, as she has Michael Brodkorb tagging along to snakebite anybody who dares cross her. Maybe she should have been one of those tabloid journalists -- they take hyberbole like hers seriously.
She'd be in the lower top 10...but we post this, hoping she runs to replace Mark Olson.
#1 -- Michael Brodkorb: My 2006 worst person in Minnesota has redefined the Minnesota blog-o-sphere. Blogs used to be a genuine discussion of events and positions; they admittedly have slanted points of view, but that's usually not hidden from the reader-- they editorialize but don't pretend to be giving "hard" news....however, thanks to Brodkorb, blogs are rapidly becoming just another arm of political campaigns; operated by former campaign staffers and political hacks and working to influence or manipulate the mainstream media in any manner they can. It has gotten so out of hand, that Mary Kiffmeyer invites Brodkorb to a transition meeting with newly elected Mark Ritchie....for purposes only apparent to Kiffmeyer herself.... but we know Brodkorb's agenda is to simply "hatchet" another Democrat. To be fair, Brodkorb isn't the only one that has lowered the bar for political discourse. There are plenty on the left that are all too willing to take up the gauntlet. But Brodkorb envisions himself as some kind of "investigative" reporter.... with little or no regard for both sides of the issue and even less for factual content. He only looks for the negative... and only items that expose political "opponents". His news flashes are one-sided and distorted as much as possible. But given all that, Brodkorb might be simply ranting in obscurity if not for the local media's willing obsession to pick up the "negative" story, at the expense of examining issue content. Politics has been reduced to the lowest common denominator....thanks, partially, to Michael Brodkorb--- Minnesota's Worst Person in the State!
Since I am now in Vikings draft mode, MDE at #1 is a bust. His selection as Number 1 is a draft bust of Tony Mandarich proportions, Packer fans...you know what I mean!
My Top 10?
LOL, here we go!
10. Patty Wetterling. Ran a horrible campaign. Outraised her opponent significantly and could not carry a swing district in a strong Democratic year. I was so disappointed.
9. Matt Entenza. Sorry I had to put another DFLer up here, but his problems, which should have been fully vetted as a candidate, put the party at risk early in the election cycle. Then, lobbying with Conservative PAC's against DFLers for Law Enforcement? Come on Matt...
9. Mary Kiffmeyer...nuff said.
8. Michael Barrett. Had no plan, purely ran on immigration issues. His signs were outrageous. "Stop the Invasion!" Collin whiped him!
7. Bachmann supporters. Those that put Bachmann stickers on Wetterling and other DFL signs, as well as marched through the DFL contingent at some parades. Oh I wish they had tried to do that to me...
6. GOP Bloggers (MDE and his colleagues). The National Enquirer has more integrity.
5. Governor Pawlenty. Has never won a Statewide election with more than 50% 0f the vote. Has now become a moderate, advocating for many of the areas he gouged in 2003.
4. MCCL: Continuing your practice of flyering cars in Church parking lots the weekend prior to the election...stay classy MCCL.
3. Mark Olson. Search my blog if you have any questions.
2. Ron Carey. GOP Chair. His daily press releases coming after DFLer's for anything and everything really got old. Plus, he screwed the GOP over, had no plan
1. Michele Bachmann. She was divisive and to steal a Boschwitz line, "Embarassingly Conservative". Wonkette has high expectations for her...
There is my Top 10. Just like Fox, "Fair and Balanced"
Dean Zimmerman and Mark Olson
MDE has a post up about former Minneapolis City Council member Zimmerman's interactions with the DFL. It has been reported in the comments section of a blog that Zimmerman attended at DFL Progressive Caucus meeting last week.
Not really any evidence though.
On Representative Mark Olson's wiki page, we have visual evidence of Olson's dealings with Zimmerman.
Not really any evidence though.
On Representative Mark Olson's wiki page, we have visual evidence of Olson's dealings with Zimmerman.
Olson with Zimmerman, discussing "personal rapid transit".
Zimmerman is a staunch Green, hates both the GOP and the DFL, but seems to like Olson.
SC Times opinion
The SC Times is running a series (an 8 part series) on the top legislative issues. Today, they tackled the "bickering" at the capitol.
"For three of Pawlenty's four years, partisanship not only gridlocked the Capitol, but eviscerated Minnesota's reputation as a place where good government prevailed."
And we re-elected him. With a DFL controlled House and Senate it could be an interesting session. The majorities in both houses are close to being able to override a veto. Both sides have publically stated their desire to work together, but with Seifert, Emmer and other GOPers launching Scud after Scud...
It will be an interesting year!
"For three of Pawlenty's four years, partisanship not only gridlocked the Capitol, but eviscerated Minnesota's reputation as a place where good government prevailed."
And we re-elected him. With a DFL controlled House and Senate it could be an interesting session. The majorities in both houses are close to being able to override a veto. Both sides have publically stated their desire to work together, but with Seifert, Emmer and other GOPers launching Scud after Scud...
It will be an interesting year!
Strib editorial highlights
The Strib, which also just announced that they were sold for less than half of what they were purchased for, ran a four part series on key legislative issues.
Here is a sampling.
Healthcare
"In 2003, trying to balance the state budget, Gov. Tim Pawlenty borrowed millions of dollars from MinnesotaCare's "health care access fund" and cut thousands of families from the program. Minnesota still has the nation's lowest uninsured rate, but that number is creeping upward. Just since 2001, the number of uninsured children has climbed by more than 11,000 to an estimated 73,000."
GOPers use the figure that 92% of all Minnesotan's are insured. They fail to disucss the number of Minnesotan's that are underinsured. We heard their plight while out campaigning. Whether its the family that struggles after a catastrophic medical event, or increases to premiums, Minnesotan's really do struggle with access to affordable and quality healthcare. It's time to do something about this, and starting with children makes the most sense.
"Minnesota has the money. The MinnesotaCare provider tax produces an annual surplus of $50 million to $100 million -- if lawmakers would quit raiding it for other purposes. Combined with federal matching funds, that's probably enough to do the job."
Conservatives decry any sort of health care plan to cover everyone. While most people I spoke to support it, some in our area were very upity about the premisce of everyone having access. They truly do not understand the concept of preventative maintenance.
Higher Education
The editors do not support the concept of a tuition freeze at all, calling it a populist move in the Legislature.
I disagree.
Students were disproportionately taxed by the GOP and Pawlenty the past 4 years. Cuts to MnSCU and the U of M forced large double digit tuition increases across the board, for most of my higher education experience.
The money is there for a tuition freeze and making this bold statement does several things.
First, it shows the committment to affordable education to our college students.
Secondly, it forces administrators to deliver an efficient product. When students worked to cap tuition several years ago, and when we tried to freeze it as well, we heard cries of large and deep cuts on our campuses.
Nothing of the sort occurred.
I support the idea of investing in the technology side of education, which should include a move towards renewable energy sources on our campuses. Make our campuses the fertile soil for which these programs can grow and prosper!
Transportation
"In June 2004 the Hiawatha light-rail line debuted to rave reviews from riders, applause from community leaders and a volume of passengers that far exceeded official projections. The result? Minnesota won't open its next light-rail line until ... 2014."
The Strib is correct, it's appalling!
Unfortunately, so was the Strib's portrayal of the transportation problem.
I do believe that light rail is the way to go. However, we have some real problems that need addressing today.
I heard the grumble when rural Minnesota read the editorial. Who's going to help us? With the majority of roads in rural areas, we see a disproportionate amount of funding to maintain the heart of this state.
The Transportation Amendment is a start, possibly a poor start, but a start nonetheless. We will have dedicated funding for transportation to the tune of $300 million a year. Billions of dollars need to be spent.
A comprehensive plan is needed to address the issue as a whole! Light rail and other mass transit opportunities can fix many of the metro transit woes. At some point, we cannot build enough roads to quickly and safely transport people and goods.
Obviously Congressman Oberstar's seat on the Transportation Committee will help our state, but at some point, we need our elected leaders to really find a solution to our transportation woes.
Early Childhood Education
"Cuts in state child care assistance to low-income families combined with a freeze in reimbursement to care providers to push her monthly child care bill from $58 to an unaffordable $359 in 2003. Her children dropped out of their child care center, to be cared for by a friend."
In rural areas the problem is even bigger. With low and stagnant wages and rising health care costs, familes struggle for the basics.
"Nationally, about two-thirds of kindergarteners are in school all day. In Minnesota, that's true of only one-third. "
All day Kindergarten is only a part of the solution. Ensuring that kids get opportunites before they enter the K-12 system levies the playing field. Education is the great equalizer in our society. Ensuring that families have access to affordable child care programs and opportunities to educate their children is a top priority.
All told, the Strib exposed the top issues from the campaign season for discussion. While I do not agree with some of their stances, at least they have exposed the issues that matter most to Minnesotan's.
While a smoking ban is not in those priorities (Strib may pubish something later), I would expect the Legislature to take action. Despite the GOP discussion of freedom, the ban is the right thing to do. Allowing counties and other local governments to ban smoking will be worse for businesses than an all out ban.
Here is a sampling.
Healthcare
"In 2003, trying to balance the state budget, Gov. Tim Pawlenty borrowed millions of dollars from MinnesotaCare's "health care access fund" and cut thousands of families from the program. Minnesota still has the nation's lowest uninsured rate, but that number is creeping upward. Just since 2001, the number of uninsured children has climbed by more than 11,000 to an estimated 73,000."
GOPers use the figure that 92% of all Minnesotan's are insured. They fail to disucss the number of Minnesotan's that are underinsured. We heard their plight while out campaigning. Whether its the family that struggles after a catastrophic medical event, or increases to premiums, Minnesotan's really do struggle with access to affordable and quality healthcare. It's time to do something about this, and starting with children makes the most sense.
"Minnesota has the money. The MinnesotaCare provider tax produces an annual surplus of $50 million to $100 million -- if lawmakers would quit raiding it for other purposes. Combined with federal matching funds, that's probably enough to do the job."
Conservatives decry any sort of health care plan to cover everyone. While most people I spoke to support it, some in our area were very upity about the premisce of everyone having access. They truly do not understand the concept of preventative maintenance.
Higher Education
The editors do not support the concept of a tuition freeze at all, calling it a populist move in the Legislature.
I disagree.
Students were disproportionately taxed by the GOP and Pawlenty the past 4 years. Cuts to MnSCU and the U of M forced large double digit tuition increases across the board, for most of my higher education experience.
The money is there for a tuition freeze and making this bold statement does several things.
First, it shows the committment to affordable education to our college students.
Secondly, it forces administrators to deliver an efficient product. When students worked to cap tuition several years ago, and when we tried to freeze it as well, we heard cries of large and deep cuts on our campuses.
Nothing of the sort occurred.
I support the idea of investing in the technology side of education, which should include a move towards renewable energy sources on our campuses. Make our campuses the fertile soil for which these programs can grow and prosper!
Transportation
"In June 2004 the Hiawatha light-rail line debuted to rave reviews from riders, applause from community leaders and a volume of passengers that far exceeded official projections. The result? Minnesota won't open its next light-rail line until ... 2014."
The Strib is correct, it's appalling!
Unfortunately, so was the Strib's portrayal of the transportation problem.
I do believe that light rail is the way to go. However, we have some real problems that need addressing today.
I heard the grumble when rural Minnesota read the editorial. Who's going to help us? With the majority of roads in rural areas, we see a disproportionate amount of funding to maintain the heart of this state.
The Transportation Amendment is a start, possibly a poor start, but a start nonetheless. We will have dedicated funding for transportation to the tune of $300 million a year. Billions of dollars need to be spent.
A comprehensive plan is needed to address the issue as a whole! Light rail and other mass transit opportunities can fix many of the metro transit woes. At some point, we cannot build enough roads to quickly and safely transport people and goods.
Obviously Congressman Oberstar's seat on the Transportation Committee will help our state, but at some point, we need our elected leaders to really find a solution to our transportation woes.
Early Childhood Education
"Cuts in state child care assistance to low-income families combined with a freeze in reimbursement to care providers to push her monthly child care bill from $58 to an unaffordable $359 in 2003. Her children dropped out of their child care center, to be cared for by a friend."
In rural areas the problem is even bigger. With low and stagnant wages and rising health care costs, familes struggle for the basics.
"Nationally, about two-thirds of kindergarteners are in school all day. In Minnesota, that's true of only one-third. "
All day Kindergarten is only a part of the solution. Ensuring that kids get opportunites before they enter the K-12 system levies the playing field. Education is the great equalizer in our society. Ensuring that families have access to affordable child care programs and opportunities to educate their children is a top priority.
All told, the Strib exposed the top issues from the campaign season for discussion. While I do not agree with some of their stances, at least they have exposed the issues that matter most to Minnesotan's.
While a smoking ban is not in those priorities (Strib may pubish something later), I would expect the Legislature to take action. Despite the GOP discussion of freedom, the ban is the right thing to do. Allowing counties and other local governments to ban smoking will be worse for businesses than an all out ban.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Anderson Cooper 360 and Veterans
I was watching Anderson Cooper on Christmas Eve as he shared a story of a disabled Iraqi Gulf War Veteran.
This Marine was wounded in Iraq by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). He suffered some brain damage as well as some injuries to his hands.
He went through physical therapy through the VA and was set at a disability rate of 20%, which paid him about $300 a month. He soon lost his job because he was unable to fully use his hands and became a homeless Veteran, parking his car near the New Jersey shores and living from VA check to VA check, fighting the system for help.
He applied through many programs and was mired in the same bureacracy many Veterans struggle with. Soon he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but did not recieve a higher VA rating.
Anderson Cooper followed proud Veteran as he would look for an odd job and fill out more paperwork to try and get help from the VA.
Only after Anderson and his producers intervened, did this Marine get re-evaluated and is now collecting full disablility as he works through PTSD issues and his other physical pain.
If only Anderson could help all our Veterans...
Is this what our society has come to? These brave men and women deploy and fight, only to have to fight even harder for their benefits. This is a travesty!
Support our Troops is much more than a slogan, a mantra of the GOP. We must also Support our Veterans.
This Marine was wounded in Iraq by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). He suffered some brain damage as well as some injuries to his hands.
He went through physical therapy through the VA and was set at a disability rate of 20%, which paid him about $300 a month. He soon lost his job because he was unable to fully use his hands and became a homeless Veteran, parking his car near the New Jersey shores and living from VA check to VA check, fighting the system for help.
He applied through many programs and was mired in the same bureacracy many Veterans struggle with. Soon he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but did not recieve a higher VA rating.
Anderson Cooper followed proud Veteran as he would look for an odd job and fill out more paperwork to try and get help from the VA.
Only after Anderson and his producers intervened, did this Marine get re-evaluated and is now collecting full disablility as he works through PTSD issues and his other physical pain.
If only Anderson could help all our Veterans...
Is this what our society has come to? These brave men and women deploy and fight, only to have to fight even harder for their benefits. This is a travesty!
Support our Troops is much more than a slogan, a mantra of the GOP. We must also Support our Veterans.
Democracy and Capiltalism
After doing last minute X-mas shopping, watching the local news and seeing long lines for Playstation's, Nintendo's, and other popular gifts, and now seeing the long lines for returns, I am saddened.
Democracy will be restored when we have lines waiting to elect our political leaders. When people are as excited to vote for Candidate X as they are to give their hard earned money to the greedy capitalist, we will see some significant change in our society.
Until then, just another mountain of ice to melt.
Democracy will be restored when we have lines waiting to elect our political leaders. When people are as excited to vote for Candidate X as they are to give their hard earned money to the greedy capitalist, we will see some significant change in our society.
Until then, just another mountain of ice to melt.
Comments on Emmer's SC Times LTE
The following are some comments from Tom Emmer's LTE in the SC Times.
Enjoy
MASTER OF rePUPPETlicanS from Wherever I May Roam
Number of Posts: 351
Comment Posted: 12/26/2006 12:59:05 AM
That's the problem with you conservatives Tom. You never think to the future!
... of course the smoking ban is going to pass!
So... see what you can do about creating a smoking license (similar to a liquor license) that may be issued by and purchased from local municipalities.
By forcing businesses to buy a smoking license, you eliminate smoking from 80% of the establishments that currently allow it, yet give the 20% the option to keep smoking if they feel it will hurt their business.
... and you get to collect more revenue for something or other.
It's a win, win, win!
Some Clown from Central Mn
Number of Posts: 4
Comment Posted: 12/26/2006 7:51:20 AM
This writer is a hypocrite. He claims to be opposed to government government control and taking away rights, yet in the last legislative session he voted to ban Gay marriage. Then in this letter he is so two faced as to say "What will stop them from legislating who we can associate with by restricting procreation based on genetics?"
He tried to ban marriage based on genetics. (gender is genetic)
I can respect opposition to smoking bans based on the thought that it will harm business. ( Although I think the evidence shows otherwise)
I can respect the opinion that this is government overstepping its bounds, if the same position of less government then carries over to other areas such as marriage, business, religious freedom, labor law, and adult businesses.
To oppose a smoking ban, while at the some time trying to pass his own government control of individuals is total hypocrisy.
Robert M from ALAmn
Number of Posts: 6
Comment Posted: 12/26/2006 8:18:19 AM
I wish Rep. Emmer would name the members of the "junta" he seems so concerned about. I follow this issue closely, as many of you know, and I can tell you that the only state lawmaker who has made a "top priority" of the Freedom to Breathe Act is Mr. Emmer, in his personal media campaign in favor of the status quo. Why so much protest for a bill that has yet to be introduced in a session that has not yet begun?
While it is true that most Minnesotans support the Freedom to Breathe Act, and there has been changes in House leadership, I again point out that there is strong support for a smokefree Minnesota among Republican representatives and senators as well, not to mention Governor Pawlenty.
Castle: We "antis" can speak for ourselves, so don't put words in our mouths. BTW: just about all of the tobacco settlement money is being (or has been) spent by the MN Legislature, not by groups like ours.
M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A!! from Golden Gopher Land
Number of Posts: 4
Comment Posted: 12/26/2006 9:06:30 AM
Very thin!
It is also indisputable that if you hold food above 41 degrees for too long bacteria will grow. It is a state reguulation that food be held at a certain temperature. Not in your homes...but in a privately owned restaurant or bar and grill. If you believe in the rights of the private business owner then this law should go as well.
So, let's review: Food held above 41...bad. Regulations passed to protect the customers from contracting a food borne illness.
Second hand smoke...bad. Regulations passed to protect customers and employees from contracting various illnesses.
Seems pretty plain to me. Argue away.
Enjoy
MASTER OF rePUPPETlicanS from Wherever I May Roam
Number of Posts: 351
Comment Posted: 12/26/2006 12:59:05 AM
That's the problem with you conservatives Tom. You never think to the future!
... of course the smoking ban is going to pass!
So... see what you can do about creating a smoking license (similar to a liquor license) that may be issued by and purchased from local municipalities.
By forcing businesses to buy a smoking license, you eliminate smoking from 80% of the establishments that currently allow it, yet give the 20% the option to keep smoking if they feel it will hurt their business.
... and you get to collect more revenue for something or other.
It's a win, win, win!
Some Clown from Central Mn
Number of Posts: 4
Comment Posted: 12/26/2006 7:51:20 AM
This writer is a hypocrite. He claims to be opposed to government government control and taking away rights, yet in the last legislative session he voted to ban Gay marriage. Then in this letter he is so two faced as to say "What will stop them from legislating who we can associate with by restricting procreation based on genetics?"
He tried to ban marriage based on genetics. (gender is genetic)
I can respect opposition to smoking bans based on the thought that it will harm business. ( Although I think the evidence shows otherwise)
I can respect the opinion that this is government overstepping its bounds, if the same position of less government then carries over to other areas such as marriage, business, religious freedom, labor law, and adult businesses.
To oppose a smoking ban, while at the some time trying to pass his own government control of individuals is total hypocrisy.
Robert M from ALAmn
Number of Posts: 6
Comment Posted: 12/26/2006 8:18:19 AM
I wish Rep. Emmer would name the members of the "junta" he seems so concerned about. I follow this issue closely, as many of you know, and I can tell you that the only state lawmaker who has made a "top priority" of the Freedom to Breathe Act is Mr. Emmer, in his personal media campaign in favor of the status quo. Why so much protest for a bill that has yet to be introduced in a session that has not yet begun?
While it is true that most Minnesotans support the Freedom to Breathe Act, and there has been changes in House leadership, I again point out that there is strong support for a smokefree Minnesota among Republican representatives and senators as well, not to mention Governor Pawlenty.
Castle: We "antis" can speak for ourselves, so don't put words in our mouths. BTW: just about all of the tobacco settlement money is being (or has been) spent by the MN Legislature, not by groups like ours.
M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A!! from Golden Gopher Land
Number of Posts: 4
Comment Posted: 12/26/2006 9:06:30 AM
Very thin!
It is also indisputable that if you hold food above 41 degrees for too long bacteria will grow. It is a state reguulation that food be held at a certain temperature. Not in your homes...but in a privately owned restaurant or bar and grill. If you believe in the rights of the private business owner then this law should go as well.
So, let's review: Food held above 41...bad. Regulations passed to protect the customers from contracting a food borne illness.
Second hand smoke...bad. Regulations passed to protect customers and employees from contracting various illnesses.
Seems pretty plain to me. Argue away.
Tom Emmer strikes again!
Rep Emmer wrote a LTE in the SC Times defending the rights of smokers.
It's nice to see the Representative who is anti government interference when it comes to 3 inch, cancer causing, tobacco sticks. Yet...when it comes to same sex marriage or a woman's right to choose...he wants the government to intervene. Rights for some, but not for all.
Nice letter Tom.
Your turn: Statewide smoking ban is not a priority
By Rep. Tom Emmer, Delano
I don't smoke. I don't like smoke. But my distaste for the habit doesn't give me cause to have the state manage individual rights.
The new junta of Democratic legislative leaders has declared a statewide smoking ban as the top priority on their thin agenda for the upcoming legislative session.
That baffles me. How property taxes, education reform, health care reform and funding for roads and bridges do not top that list of priorities is, in a word, outrageous! Apparently promises made during recent campaigns can now be forgotten.
A statewide smoking ban in Minnesota is a dangerous constitutional precedent. If the new regime wants the ban to pass, it very likely will pass. But we should at least call it what it is as we plummet further into the nanny-state formerly known as Minnesota.
America was founded on principles of freedom and the right of the individual to self-determine. As a "free" society, the laws we enact must necessarily be directed toward protection of individual freedoms.
A tension exists, however, between the right to self-determine and our predisposition to control. Simply stated, we all want to make decisions about our personal liberties, but some also want to make decisions for fellow citizens.
Why? Is it because we believe only the uneducated would disagree with our enlightened position?
We are all concerned with health. In fact, we are all responsible for making healthful choices. The first law on the DFL legislative agenda is a statewide smoking ban.
The real issue is much larger. The real issue is how far we are willing to let government rules erode our freedom.
What will stop the regulatory engineers from focusing their sights on the freedom to consume certain foods they consider unhealthful foods? What will stop them from outlawing certain expressions, like no one should be forced to sit in a public place next to someone spouting profanity or praying aloud? What will stop them from determining who can own and hold certain property like a farmer's right to decide how and what to farm? What will stop them from legislating who we can associate with by restricting procreation based on genetics? What will stop them from legislating our religious freedoms?
I expect those who want to dictate our freedoms will cry out that the smoking ban is altogether different from the examples offered.
Secondhand smoke obviously affects workers in bars and restaurants. Of course no one wants to suggest that employment is voluntary. Evidence of the negative health impact of secondhand smoke has been presented as indisputable.
If this is such an indisputable truth, then why does the federal government rate secondhand smoke below cell phones as a carcinogen?
I realize this train may be out of the station and that it seems to be picking up steam. I only ask that before we set this course we consider the impact on not only the many businesses that will be hurt, but also the dangerous precedent we set for liberty.
This is the opinion of District 19B Rep. Tom Emmer, Delano. He can be reached at (651) 296-4336 or (800) 474-3425.
Emmer likes to call out DFLer's on campaign promises that they have failed to achieve. Let's talk about our legislative leaders across our district too.
Senator Dille's "top legislative priority" is to ensure that every Minnesotan is a happily married millionaire. His words, not mine. When has that happened? Did I miss something while I was on active duty?
He has been talking about health care issues for more than a decade, as evidenced by decade old local newspapers. He's been talking about education funding reforms...for more than a decade. No results. Come on Tom, hold everyone to the same standard. I am sure you promised your constituents that you would do everything you could to fight abortion. Where are your results?
You sponsor laws to safeguard Minnesotans and help us prosper. Should you rescind bans on asbestos, lead and other unsafe materials in order to allow businesses to remain profitable? Allow the consumer to take the risk of going to Jack and Jill's Bed and Breakfast just to save a few bucks?
What about making sure that those that serve food wash their hands? Is that not a personal choice? Establishments could compete based on cleanliness as well.
As a civilized society, we do not allow that. We do not allow that because we know the harm that is caused by these materials and practices.
Get off your high horse Tom, and serve the people.
It's nice to see the Representative who is anti government interference when it comes to 3 inch, cancer causing, tobacco sticks. Yet...when it comes to same sex marriage or a woman's right to choose...he wants the government to intervene. Rights for some, but not for all.
Nice letter Tom.
Your turn: Statewide smoking ban is not a priority
By Rep. Tom Emmer, Delano
I don't smoke. I don't like smoke. But my distaste for the habit doesn't give me cause to have the state manage individual rights.
The new junta of Democratic legislative leaders has declared a statewide smoking ban as the top priority on their thin agenda for the upcoming legislative session.
That baffles me. How property taxes, education reform, health care reform and funding for roads and bridges do not top that list of priorities is, in a word, outrageous! Apparently promises made during recent campaigns can now be forgotten.
A statewide smoking ban in Minnesota is a dangerous constitutional precedent. If the new regime wants the ban to pass, it very likely will pass. But we should at least call it what it is as we plummet further into the nanny-state formerly known as Minnesota.
America was founded on principles of freedom and the right of the individual to self-determine. As a "free" society, the laws we enact must necessarily be directed toward protection of individual freedoms.
A tension exists, however, between the right to self-determine and our predisposition to control. Simply stated, we all want to make decisions about our personal liberties, but some also want to make decisions for fellow citizens.
Why? Is it because we believe only the uneducated would disagree with our enlightened position?
We are all concerned with health. In fact, we are all responsible for making healthful choices. The first law on the DFL legislative agenda is a statewide smoking ban.
The real issue is much larger. The real issue is how far we are willing to let government rules erode our freedom.
What will stop the regulatory engineers from focusing their sights on the freedom to consume certain foods they consider unhealthful foods? What will stop them from outlawing certain expressions, like no one should be forced to sit in a public place next to someone spouting profanity or praying aloud? What will stop them from determining who can own and hold certain property like a farmer's right to decide how and what to farm? What will stop them from legislating who we can associate with by restricting procreation based on genetics? What will stop them from legislating our religious freedoms?
I expect those who want to dictate our freedoms will cry out that the smoking ban is altogether different from the examples offered.
Secondhand smoke obviously affects workers in bars and restaurants. Of course no one wants to suggest that employment is voluntary. Evidence of the negative health impact of secondhand smoke has been presented as indisputable.
If this is such an indisputable truth, then why does the federal government rate secondhand smoke below cell phones as a carcinogen?
I realize this train may be out of the station and that it seems to be picking up steam. I only ask that before we set this course we consider the impact on not only the many businesses that will be hurt, but also the dangerous precedent we set for liberty.
This is the opinion of District 19B Rep. Tom Emmer, Delano. He can be reached at (651) 296-4336 or (800) 474-3425.
Emmer likes to call out DFLer's on campaign promises that they have failed to achieve. Let's talk about our legislative leaders across our district too.
Senator Dille's "top legislative priority" is to ensure that every Minnesotan is a happily married millionaire. His words, not mine. When has that happened? Did I miss something while I was on active duty?
He has been talking about health care issues for more than a decade, as evidenced by decade old local newspapers. He's been talking about education funding reforms...for more than a decade. No results. Come on Tom, hold everyone to the same standard. I am sure you promised your constituents that you would do everything you could to fight abortion. Where are your results?
You sponsor laws to safeguard Minnesotans and help us prosper. Should you rescind bans on asbestos, lead and other unsafe materials in order to allow businesses to remain profitable? Allow the consumer to take the risk of going to Jack and Jill's Bed and Breakfast just to save a few bucks?
What about making sure that those that serve food wash their hands? Is that not a personal choice? Establishments could compete based on cleanliness as well.
As a civilized society, we do not allow that. We do not allow that because we know the harm that is caused by these materials and practices.
Get off your high horse Tom, and serve the people.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Strib on school levies
School levies have failed in numerous school districts across the state. We campaigned hard on the issue in the past election and now will work hard to hold our elected leaders accountable. Senator Dille has stated he supports reforms to school funding for more than a decade now with results being few and far between.
Now...our public schools are in trouble. Here is the story from the Strib!
Public school officials need to look no further than retired carpenter David Ervin to understand why many Minnesota property owners recently rejected pleas for more money.
Burnsville schools got a no for an answer last month when they asked voters to approve a major property tax increase. Ervin, 66, said he has supported school referendums in the past, but this time, "I voted no. It would have increased my taxes $200 to $300 a year. The homeowners are getting hit pretty hard because of the lack of state funding. There's got to be some kind of relief."
Relief is expected to be at the top of the agenda when the new DFL-controlled Legislature convenes Jan. 3. But lawmakers will have to wrestle with the risk that one person's property tax break could create a burden for other taxpayers, or for the state budget.
If Ervin represents one side of that equation, Beth Purcelli embodies the other. Purcelli, 30, lives with her daughter in a $900-a-month Burnsville apartment. She sells two-way radios and is studying for a bachelor's degree.
Property taxes affect Purcelli's rent only indirectly, so she's not a fan of curbing them if it means higher taxes on her income, cigarettes or other purchases. "I already survive paycheck to paycheck," she said.
Economic insecurity
The tension over differing taxes' impact on different taxpayers intensified when recent changes in Minnesota laws shifted more of the burden from the state to local governments. A decline in state aid to local governments contributed to residential property taxes rising an average of 58 percent from 2002 through 2006. Higher property values and local government spending also fed the increase.
Property taxes will rise an average of 8.2 percent statewide in 2007, the state Revenue Department estimates.
Taxes on a median-valued home in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District rose about 35 percent from 2002 to what is proposed for 2007.
It could have been higher still. This year the district asked voters to boost levies nearly $6 million a year over the next decade to erase an operating deficit and avoid increasing class sizes.
The district said that would add about $228 a year to the tax bill on a home valued at $250,000. Officials held community meetings to explain the proposal and got an inkling that it would be a tough sell in a district where many homeowners work for economically strapped Northwest Airlines.
"I think the overriding issue was economic insecurity and therefore a concern about increasing property taxes," said Superintendent Benjamin Kanninen.
He recalled a meeting where one resident said: "I support schools and I understand what you're saying, but how can you ask me to raise my taxes? I just lost my job."
Record rate of 'no' votes
Resistance also came from senior citizens living on fixed or nearly fixed incomes.
One of those was Ervin. A widower with grown children, he said he voted to raise property taxes for Minneapolis schools years ago when his family lived there. But he said passage of the Burnsville referendum would raise his taxes at a time when "there's way too much money spent on administration" in the school system.
He also says local governments were in a bind because of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's refusal to increase statewide taxes. "They had to raise property taxes," Ervin said.
The district stressed that it was among a minority of school systems spending more than 70 percent of their budgets on teaching rather than administration, a benchmark set by Pawlenty.
But the referendum failed, 56 to 44 percent.
It was one of 40 school district operating referendums that failed in November. Statewide, 57 percent of the school referendums were shot down -- the worst percentage since tracking began in 1980, said Greg Abbott, a spokesman for the Minnesota School Boards Association. He saw the defeats as a measure of long-standing public frustration with property taxes.
"With schools ... you get to vote on it," he said. "It's one time you can say, 'My property taxes are too high.' "
For the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage district, the defeat probably means laying off 50 to 75 employees -- including perhaps 5 percent of its teachers.
Which taxes to relieve?
As a renter and her household's sole wage earner, Purcelli has a different perspective on taxes. She is skeptical about how long the state's projected budget surplus will last. And she doesn't want income taxes or other levies -- she's a smoker still upset about the 75-cent-a-pack fee enacted in 2005 -- boosted to pay for property tax relief. Still, she hopes to own a home one day.
"It's hard enough to survive in this world on one income, let alone if they start taking more of that income from me," she said.
DFL leaders and Pawlenty have promised some form of property tax relief next year. Both the Republican governor and Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, the new chairman of the Taxes Committee, oppose state tax increases to pay for it. But funds steered to relief for homeowners could just as easily go to income or sales tax breaks that might more directly reach taxpayers such as Purcelli.
The governor wants to hold annual property tax increases to under 10 percent, said spokesman Alex Carey. DFLers will probably push for increasing state aid to local governments as a way to control or reduce property taxes.
"The cities that have lost local government aid over the last four years would like to have some of that back to help pull down property taxes," Bakk said. Another way to hold down property taxes would be more state aid to schools, he said.
The amount of tax relief will depend on the state economic forecast to be released in February, Bakk added.
Now...our public schools are in trouble. Here is the story from the Strib!
Public school officials need to look no further than retired carpenter David Ervin to understand why many Minnesota property owners recently rejected pleas for more money.
Burnsville schools got a no for an answer last month when they asked voters to approve a major property tax increase. Ervin, 66, said he has supported school referendums in the past, but this time, "I voted no. It would have increased my taxes $200 to $300 a year. The homeowners are getting hit pretty hard because of the lack of state funding. There's got to be some kind of relief."
Relief is expected to be at the top of the agenda when the new DFL-controlled Legislature convenes Jan. 3. But lawmakers will have to wrestle with the risk that one person's property tax break could create a burden for other taxpayers, or for the state budget.
If Ervin represents one side of that equation, Beth Purcelli embodies the other. Purcelli, 30, lives with her daughter in a $900-a-month Burnsville apartment. She sells two-way radios and is studying for a bachelor's degree.
Property taxes affect Purcelli's rent only indirectly, so she's not a fan of curbing them if it means higher taxes on her income, cigarettes or other purchases. "I already survive paycheck to paycheck," she said.
Economic insecurity
The tension over differing taxes' impact on different taxpayers intensified when recent changes in Minnesota laws shifted more of the burden from the state to local governments. A decline in state aid to local governments contributed to residential property taxes rising an average of 58 percent from 2002 through 2006. Higher property values and local government spending also fed the increase.
Property taxes will rise an average of 8.2 percent statewide in 2007, the state Revenue Department estimates.
Taxes on a median-valued home in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District rose about 35 percent from 2002 to what is proposed for 2007.
It could have been higher still. This year the district asked voters to boost levies nearly $6 million a year over the next decade to erase an operating deficit and avoid increasing class sizes.
The district said that would add about $228 a year to the tax bill on a home valued at $250,000. Officials held community meetings to explain the proposal and got an inkling that it would be a tough sell in a district where many homeowners work for economically strapped Northwest Airlines.
"I think the overriding issue was economic insecurity and therefore a concern about increasing property taxes," said Superintendent Benjamin Kanninen.
He recalled a meeting where one resident said: "I support schools and I understand what you're saying, but how can you ask me to raise my taxes? I just lost my job."
Record rate of 'no' votes
Resistance also came from senior citizens living on fixed or nearly fixed incomes.
One of those was Ervin. A widower with grown children, he said he voted to raise property taxes for Minneapolis schools years ago when his family lived there. But he said passage of the Burnsville referendum would raise his taxes at a time when "there's way too much money spent on administration" in the school system.
He also says local governments were in a bind because of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's refusal to increase statewide taxes. "They had to raise property taxes," Ervin said.
The district stressed that it was among a minority of school systems spending more than 70 percent of their budgets on teaching rather than administration, a benchmark set by Pawlenty.
But the referendum failed, 56 to 44 percent.
It was one of 40 school district operating referendums that failed in November. Statewide, 57 percent of the school referendums were shot down -- the worst percentage since tracking began in 1980, said Greg Abbott, a spokesman for the Minnesota School Boards Association. He saw the defeats as a measure of long-standing public frustration with property taxes.
"With schools ... you get to vote on it," he said. "It's one time you can say, 'My property taxes are too high.' "
For the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage district, the defeat probably means laying off 50 to 75 employees -- including perhaps 5 percent of its teachers.
Which taxes to relieve?
As a renter and her household's sole wage earner, Purcelli has a different perspective on taxes. She is skeptical about how long the state's projected budget surplus will last. And she doesn't want income taxes or other levies -- she's a smoker still upset about the 75-cent-a-pack fee enacted in 2005 -- boosted to pay for property tax relief. Still, she hopes to own a home one day.
"It's hard enough to survive in this world on one income, let alone if they start taking more of that income from me," she said.
DFL leaders and Pawlenty have promised some form of property tax relief next year. Both the Republican governor and Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, the new chairman of the Taxes Committee, oppose state tax increases to pay for it. But funds steered to relief for homeowners could just as easily go to income or sales tax breaks that might more directly reach taxpayers such as Purcelli.
The governor wants to hold annual property tax increases to under 10 percent, said spokesman Alex Carey. DFLers will probably push for increasing state aid to local governments as a way to control or reduce property taxes.
"The cities that have lost local government aid over the last four years would like to have some of that back to help pull down property taxes," Bakk said. Another way to hold down property taxes would be more state aid to schools, he said.
The amount of tax relief will depend on the state economic forecast to be released in February, Bakk added.
More insightful comments by Tom Emmer!
The following is from a Coon Rapids publication. Mr. Emmer will undoubtedly continue to provide the "liberal media" and bloggers with more gems.
Deputy House Minority Leader Tom Emmer, R-Delano, doesn’t smoke and doesn’t like smoke curling about the room.
But Emmer in column lit up Democrats for support of a statewide smoking ban.“The new junta of Democratic legislative leaders has declared a statewide smoking ban as the top priority on their thin agenda for the upcoming legislative session,” writes Emmer.
“That baffles me. How property taxes, education reform, health care reform and funding for roads and bridges do not top that list of priorities is in a word, outrageous!”
While some Democrats support a statewide smoking ban, in recent weeks they listed property tax relief, education and health care as top priorities.
Deputy House Minority Leader Tom Emmer, R-Delano, doesn’t smoke and doesn’t like smoke curling about the room.
But Emmer in column lit up Democrats for support of a statewide smoking ban.“The new junta of Democratic legislative leaders has declared a statewide smoking ban as the top priority on their thin agenda for the upcoming legislative session,” writes Emmer.
“That baffles me. How property taxes, education reform, health care reform and funding for roads and bridges do not top that list of priorities is in a word, outrageous!”
While some Democrats support a statewide smoking ban, in recent weeks they listed property tax relief, education and health care as top priorities.
Bachmann is the Chosen One, Part IV
The final piece from the City Pages
WHEN Bachmann won the GOP endorsement for the Sixth CD, she used a familiar strategy: Overturn the old-school delegates with new ones from the church. With that, she defeated two longtime and well-known Republicans—State Rep. Jim Knoblauch and State Sen. Phil Krinkie—to run as the Republican candidate for the U.S. House. But this time no one was particularly surprised. The political landscape has shifted in Bachmann's favor.
The Sixth, which runs northwest from Stillwater past St. Cloud, is odd political terrain. Little more than a decade ago, much of it was rural, but now it's full of bedroom communities, new highway interchanges, and McMansions. The Sixth is the whitest district in the state (95 percent) and the median household income is $60,893, some $16,000 above the national average, according to 2004 census numbers. In the last presidential election, George W. Bush received 57 percent of the Sixth District vote, even though he lost the state of Minnesota. All of this would seem to favor Bachmann.
But the Sixth District is also home to some folks with strong libertarian leanings. Many working-class and first-time voters turned out there in 1998 to help propel Jesse Ventura to the governor's mansion. And Paul Wellstone twice captured significant votes in some enclaves of the district. It's unlikely that Bachmann's past on social issues and school reform would attract these people. (Just last week, polls released by Emily's List regarding "five competitive House districts" showed a narrow gap in the Sixth, with Bachmann at 44 percent to Wetterling's 41 percent.)
And it's clear, on the stump, that she knows this. One weekday evening in early August, there was a debate at the VFW in Forest Lake between Bachmann and the Independence Party's John Binkowski. (Wetterling did not participate.) Bachmann talked of a permanent repeal of the "death tax," and mentioned that she was a tax attorney no fewer than five times. "I am a federal tax attorney," she said at one point, calling for an overhaul of the U.S. tax code. "That's my background and my profession."
She then called for more "local control" in the public schools. But if you get Bachmann off those two issues, she's on less certain footing. Take this answer to a question about raising the minimum wage: "In Minnesota, we have only 3.6 percent unemployment. We are the workingest state in the nation. We have more two-income families than any state in the nation. We have more women in the work force than any state in the nation. We have more people working two or three jobs than anywhere else." She concluded that "minimum wage in this state is not a big issue." The book on Bachmann, and it's at times very apparent, is that when she's off-message, she's doomed.
A few days earlier, Bachmann was on a congressional candidate panel at Farm Fest 2006, in Redwood Falls, far out of her district. There were displays of farm equipment everywhere, and about 300 people had gathered under a white tent to hear the candidates field questions. Bachmann immediately made a point of saying she "married a dairy farmer" and spoke of the days when she and Marcus would milk the cows on his father's farm.
"That's something that certainly doesn't fit with my image of Michele," chuckles Michael LaFave when told of this. Bachmann is petite to the point of looking frail. She often is surrounded by people—supporters, staffers, fellow politicians, Marcus—who seem intent on sheltering her from any outside forces. From a distance, she looks youthful and composed. Up close, she appears at once older and less self-assured. In short, she's made for television. At Farm Fest, she looked completely out of her element.
There were complicated questions about farm policy—What's your stance on crop insurance? Should the current farm bill be extended?—that, in fairness, made sense to only four or five of the nine candidates on the panel. But while some candidates simply admitted as much, Bachmann repeatedly referred to "marrying into a farm family" in weaving answers that never quite got around to the questions.
In response to a complex question about setting up a permanent disaster fund for farmers and ranchers who raise beef cattle, Wetterling balked and admitted she didn't really understand the question or have an answer. Bachmann, by contrast, dove right in. "I appreciate the question, because on our dairy farm, we raise beef cattle as well," she began. "One thing we can never, ever, ever get away from is that we are not two separate entities: Commodities. Livestock. If there's anything that can interact, it's commodities and livestock. Without commodities, you don't have livestock. It's just that simple."
She concluded by noting that, as a mother of the sum of 28 children, she has learned that when families don't get fed, "they get cranky."
This drew a small chuckle from the crowd, but it was an uncomfortable one. One farmer turned to the one sitting next to him, shaking his head. "What the fuck is she talking about?" he wanted to know.
WHEN Bachmann won the GOP endorsement for the Sixth CD, she used a familiar strategy: Overturn the old-school delegates with new ones from the church. With that, she defeated two longtime and well-known Republicans—State Rep. Jim Knoblauch and State Sen. Phil Krinkie—to run as the Republican candidate for the U.S. House. But this time no one was particularly surprised. The political landscape has shifted in Bachmann's favor.
The Sixth, which runs northwest from Stillwater past St. Cloud, is odd political terrain. Little more than a decade ago, much of it was rural, but now it's full of bedroom communities, new highway interchanges, and McMansions. The Sixth is the whitest district in the state (95 percent) and the median household income is $60,893, some $16,000 above the national average, according to 2004 census numbers. In the last presidential election, George W. Bush received 57 percent of the Sixth District vote, even though he lost the state of Minnesota. All of this would seem to favor Bachmann.
But the Sixth District is also home to some folks with strong libertarian leanings. Many working-class and first-time voters turned out there in 1998 to help propel Jesse Ventura to the governor's mansion. And Paul Wellstone twice captured significant votes in some enclaves of the district. It's unlikely that Bachmann's past on social issues and school reform would attract these people. (Just last week, polls released by Emily's List regarding "five competitive House districts" showed a narrow gap in the Sixth, with Bachmann at 44 percent to Wetterling's 41 percent.)
And it's clear, on the stump, that she knows this. One weekday evening in early August, there was a debate at the VFW in Forest Lake between Bachmann and the Independence Party's John Binkowski. (Wetterling did not participate.) Bachmann talked of a permanent repeal of the "death tax," and mentioned that she was a tax attorney no fewer than five times. "I am a federal tax attorney," she said at one point, calling for an overhaul of the U.S. tax code. "That's my background and my profession."
She then called for more "local control" in the public schools. But if you get Bachmann off those two issues, she's on less certain footing. Take this answer to a question about raising the minimum wage: "In Minnesota, we have only 3.6 percent unemployment. We are the workingest state in the nation. We have more two-income families than any state in the nation. We have more women in the work force than any state in the nation. We have more people working two or three jobs than anywhere else." She concluded that "minimum wage in this state is not a big issue." The book on Bachmann, and it's at times very apparent, is that when she's off-message, she's doomed.
A few days earlier, Bachmann was on a congressional candidate panel at Farm Fest 2006, in Redwood Falls, far out of her district. There were displays of farm equipment everywhere, and about 300 people had gathered under a white tent to hear the candidates field questions. Bachmann immediately made a point of saying she "married a dairy farmer" and spoke of the days when she and Marcus would milk the cows on his father's farm.
"That's something that certainly doesn't fit with my image of Michele," chuckles Michael LaFave when told of this. Bachmann is petite to the point of looking frail. She often is surrounded by people—supporters, staffers, fellow politicians, Marcus—who seem intent on sheltering her from any outside forces. From a distance, she looks youthful and composed. Up close, she appears at once older and less self-assured. In short, she's made for television. At Farm Fest, she looked completely out of her element.
There were complicated questions about farm policy—What's your stance on crop insurance? Should the current farm bill be extended?—that, in fairness, made sense to only four or five of the nine candidates on the panel. But while some candidates simply admitted as much, Bachmann repeatedly referred to "marrying into a farm family" in weaving answers that never quite got around to the questions.
In response to a complex question about setting up a permanent disaster fund for farmers and ranchers who raise beef cattle, Wetterling balked and admitted she didn't really understand the question or have an answer. Bachmann, by contrast, dove right in. "I appreciate the question, because on our dairy farm, we raise beef cattle as well," she began. "One thing we can never, ever, ever get away from is that we are not two separate entities: Commodities. Livestock. If there's anything that can interact, it's commodities and livestock. Without commodities, you don't have livestock. It's just that simple."
She concluded by noting that, as a mother of the sum of 28 children, she has learned that when families don't get fed, "they get cranky."
This drew a small chuckle from the crowd, but it was an uncomfortable one. One farmer turned to the one sitting next to him, shaking his head. "What the fuck is she talking about?" he wanted to know.
Bachmann is the Chosen One, Part III
A third installment from City Pages
But that's exactly what happened. Laidig believes, in retrospect, that he was one of a number of moderate Republicans targeted by elements of their own party as vulnerable candidates in the run-up to the 2000 races. "And it became a different kind of party," he says. "Suddenly all of these religious litmus tests were going on, and they were getting support in the churches. My father was a very conservative minister, and very politically active. But never once did he bring the pulpit to politics, and he never brought politics to the pulpit."
On April 1, 2000, the GOP held its endorsing convention for the District 56 Senate seat. Laidig was immediately put off when he saw a number of new delegates—churchgoers. He also realized that they were against him, calling him "a Republican in name only," despite his 30 years of service to the party. To his surprise, he had an opponent—Michele Bachmann—and was caught off-guard. Bachmann won the endorsement on the first ballot. (The two went on to face off in the primary, which Bachmann won.)
"It hit me like a tsunami," Laidig says. "I heard the rumble out there, but I never thought the wave would come."
"Republican Senator Loses Endorsement Over Profile," read a post-mortem headline on the Maple River website. "Senator Laidig is known as the senator who for years has been opposing the party platform, and local activists wanted to support a candidate who would support them at the legislature," the story said in reference to the religious-right voting bloc that ousted Laidig.
The story went on to contend that "Dr. Bachmann herself, who had no intention of running, was shocked by her victory," and that a "spontaneous and genuine draft effort" had convinced Bachmann to run. "I came in wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and moccasins, and I had no makeup on at all," the story quotes Bachmann as saying. "I had not one piece of literature, I had made not one phone call, and spent not five cents and I did not solicit a vote."
"Absolute bullshit," Laidig says now. "She planned this all along."
WHILE Michele Bachmann was rising through the political ranks, her husband Marcus—a lumbering, soft-featured man—was working toward a psychology doctorate and a practice in Lake Elmo. There is an overt Christian theme attached to the practice. "Bachmann and Associates believes in providing all clients with quality counseling in a Christian environment," reads the mission statement on the business's website. Some of the listed specialties of the clinic and its counselors include "abuse issues," "co-dependency," "men's and women's issues," "shame," and "spiritual issues."
But some observers claim that the mission of the practice includes counseling homosexuals in an effort to "ungay" them. "It is absolutely sincere," adds former school board member Cecconi. "They specialize in 'reparation' regarding sexual orientation."
Marcus Bachmann, who is also 50, denies that is part of his clinic's practice. "That's a false statement," he says, refusing to answer any questions that don't have to do with Bachmann and Associates. "Am I aware that the perception is out there? I can't comment on that." Still, Bachmann offers, "If someone is interested in talking to us about their homosexuality, we are open to talking about that. But if someone comes in a homosexual and they want to stay homosexual, I don't have a problem with that."
Questions about his work aside, Marcus Bachmann has never played much of a public role in his wife's campaigns, and neither her allies nor her detractors seem to know much about him. But many believe he has played a huge part in the evolution of Michele Bachmann's religious convictions and, in turn, her political career. At the GOP endorsing convention in May, he worked the floor of delegates for his wife. Before that, he had gone on the political offensive. "She's pro-life, pro-family, and knows the values of the [Sixth] district," he told the Stillwater Courier in March 2006. "Whatever's left, she'll eat for dessert." He added that his wife would "eat up" Patty Wetterling in the general election.
Stepbrother Michael LaFave remembers that the Bachmanns' born-again identity started to cause divisions in the family sometime in the mid-1980s. "She kind of went all the way back to the Old Testament, and wouldn't eat pork and things like that," LaFave says. "Things got much more rigid around them. She got into it very deeply. I don't want to say she went off the deep end, but you might say something like that." With respect to Marcus Bachmann, LaFave says he has always "purposely stayed at arm's length. We just chit-chat about the family when we see each other."
On the campaign trail, Michele Bachmann has said her husband grew up on a family dairy farm in western Wisconsin. According to a brief biography that ran in the Forest Lake Times when Bachmann and Associates opened an office there in March 2005, he earned a master's degree in counseling from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, a school then affiliated with Christian Broadcasting Network pitchman Pat Robertson. Bachmann later was awarded a doctorate in clinical psychology from an institution listed as Union Graduate School on his clinic's website, an apparent reference to Union Institute in Cincinnati, though nothing on either of the Bachmanns' public résumés suggests they ever lived in Ohio.
Last November, the Bachmanns attended a "Minnesota Pastors' Summit" at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. Some 300 religious leaders participated in the event, which was organized by the conservative, antigay Minnesota Family Council. Michele Bachmann was there to lead a session on the gay marriage amendment, while Marcus offered a presentation titled "The Truth About the Homosexual Agenda."
Curt Prins, a 35-year-old marketing executive from Minneapolis, attended. Prins, who is gay, says he went because he was "curious" and wanted to "understand the language" of the antigay movement. "There was so much bile, I nearly had to leave," Prins recalls. For Marcus Bachmann's session, Prins says there were more than 100 people crammed in a room at Grace, and most of the presentation involved stereotypes of gays. "He was saying how homosexuality was a choice, that it was not genetics," Prins says. "He was claiming there was a high predominance of sexual abuse in the GLBT community. There was no research to back any of this up." (Marcus Bachmann refused to answer questions about the seminar.)
The climax of the presentation was when, according to Prins, Bachmann brought up "three ex-gays, like part of a PowerPoint presentation." The trio, two white men and a black woman, all testified that they had renounced their homosexuality. "One of them said, 'If I was born gay, then I'll have to be born again,'" Prins recalls. "The crowd went crazy."
"Listening to him," Prins surmises, "it becomes clear that he's had a huge impact on her. He might be the spearhead of this whole religious/gay issue." Shortly after Bachmann announced her candidacy for U.S. Congress, there was an announcement on a website called the Minnesota Christian Chronicle. "Michele is a compassionate, intelligent woman of integrity who has a calling in her life. I am confident in Michele's ability to serve the constituents superbly well in the Sixth District," Marcus Bachmann was quoted as saying. "As her husband, I fully endorse Michele running for U.S. Congress. I am so thankful for her Christian testimony. She is a servant who honors Christ."
But Michele Bachmann's Christian testimony has not endeared her to everyone in her family. When Bachmann held a hearing on the gay marriage ban at the Capitol last April, she got a rude surprise: Sitting just a few feet away was her stepsister, Helen LaFave, who chose the occasion to come out publicly for the first time, with her partner of 20 years in attendance. "This issue has been very hurtful to me personally, and divisive for our family," LaFave told the Star Tribune at the time. Bachmann said at the time that she had taken a family vote on the gay marriage ban, and that family members favored it by a 6-3 margin. But both Michael and Helen LaFave insist she never spoke to them about it. Helen LaFave added that Bachmann ignored letters LaFave had sent her about the matter.
(Helen LaFave, 46, declined to be interviewed for this story, saying, "My dad is in his 80s now, and it's too much to have all of this out there for him.")
"I've got to be clear that I've always been kind of proud of Michele," Michael LaFave says cautiously. That all went sour, though, as Bachmann increasingly became the face of the efforts to ban gay marriage at the Capitol. LaFave had no choice but to take things personally: "I wrote her an e-mail, and asked very nicely why she had to carry the water on this, knowing that my father has a gay daughter. How could she discriminate against Helen?
"She's out there courting a family values agenda, but she's saying things about her own family that's not true," he claims. "She could have been talking to the voters the whole time about having a gay sister," he says. "That at least would have been honest. Dick Cheney had the good sense to do that with his daughter. He had the good sense to know not to engage the base, to not get involved in the debate, because he knew how much it would hurt his daughter. If anyone spent the most time together between the LaFaves and the Ambles," LaFave concludes, "it was Michele and Helen.
"What I'd say to Michele is that you've got a situation here that you didn't have to create. You didn't have to go about it this way," he says, and pauses before announcing he'll likely vote for Patty Wetterling. "I'd say, 'Michele, for all of this, you've lost your family. You've lost my vote.'"
But that's exactly what happened. Laidig believes, in retrospect, that he was one of a number of moderate Republicans targeted by elements of their own party as vulnerable candidates in the run-up to the 2000 races. "And it became a different kind of party," he says. "Suddenly all of these religious litmus tests were going on, and they were getting support in the churches. My father was a very conservative minister, and very politically active. But never once did he bring the pulpit to politics, and he never brought politics to the pulpit."
On April 1, 2000, the GOP held its endorsing convention for the District 56 Senate seat. Laidig was immediately put off when he saw a number of new delegates—churchgoers. He also realized that they were against him, calling him "a Republican in name only," despite his 30 years of service to the party. To his surprise, he had an opponent—Michele Bachmann—and was caught off-guard. Bachmann won the endorsement on the first ballot. (The two went on to face off in the primary, which Bachmann won.)
"It hit me like a tsunami," Laidig says. "I heard the rumble out there, but I never thought the wave would come."
"Republican Senator Loses Endorsement Over Profile," read a post-mortem headline on the Maple River website. "Senator Laidig is known as the senator who for years has been opposing the party platform, and local activists wanted to support a candidate who would support them at the legislature," the story said in reference to the religious-right voting bloc that ousted Laidig.
The story went on to contend that "Dr. Bachmann herself, who had no intention of running, was shocked by her victory," and that a "spontaneous and genuine draft effort" had convinced Bachmann to run. "I came in wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and moccasins, and I had no makeup on at all," the story quotes Bachmann as saying. "I had not one piece of literature, I had made not one phone call, and spent not five cents and I did not solicit a vote."
"Absolute bullshit," Laidig says now. "She planned this all along."
WHILE Michele Bachmann was rising through the political ranks, her husband Marcus—a lumbering, soft-featured man—was working toward a psychology doctorate and a practice in Lake Elmo. There is an overt Christian theme attached to the practice. "Bachmann and Associates believes in providing all clients with quality counseling in a Christian environment," reads the mission statement on the business's website. Some of the listed specialties of the clinic and its counselors include "abuse issues," "co-dependency," "men's and women's issues," "shame," and "spiritual issues."
But some observers claim that the mission of the practice includes counseling homosexuals in an effort to "ungay" them. "It is absolutely sincere," adds former school board member Cecconi. "They specialize in 'reparation' regarding sexual orientation."
Marcus Bachmann, who is also 50, denies that is part of his clinic's practice. "That's a false statement," he says, refusing to answer any questions that don't have to do with Bachmann and Associates. "Am I aware that the perception is out there? I can't comment on that." Still, Bachmann offers, "If someone is interested in talking to us about their homosexuality, we are open to talking about that. But if someone comes in a homosexual and they want to stay homosexual, I don't have a problem with that."
Questions about his work aside, Marcus Bachmann has never played much of a public role in his wife's campaigns, and neither her allies nor her detractors seem to know much about him. But many believe he has played a huge part in the evolution of Michele Bachmann's religious convictions and, in turn, her political career. At the GOP endorsing convention in May, he worked the floor of delegates for his wife. Before that, he had gone on the political offensive. "She's pro-life, pro-family, and knows the values of the [Sixth] district," he told the Stillwater Courier in March 2006. "Whatever's left, she'll eat for dessert." He added that his wife would "eat up" Patty Wetterling in the general election.
Stepbrother Michael LaFave remembers that the Bachmanns' born-again identity started to cause divisions in the family sometime in the mid-1980s. "She kind of went all the way back to the Old Testament, and wouldn't eat pork and things like that," LaFave says. "Things got much more rigid around them. She got into it very deeply. I don't want to say she went off the deep end, but you might say something like that." With respect to Marcus Bachmann, LaFave says he has always "purposely stayed at arm's length. We just chit-chat about the family when we see each other."
On the campaign trail, Michele Bachmann has said her husband grew up on a family dairy farm in western Wisconsin. According to a brief biography that ran in the Forest Lake Times when Bachmann and Associates opened an office there in March 2005, he earned a master's degree in counseling from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, a school then affiliated with Christian Broadcasting Network pitchman Pat Robertson. Bachmann later was awarded a doctorate in clinical psychology from an institution listed as Union Graduate School on his clinic's website, an apparent reference to Union Institute in Cincinnati, though nothing on either of the Bachmanns' public résumés suggests they ever lived in Ohio.
Last November, the Bachmanns attended a "Minnesota Pastors' Summit" at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. Some 300 religious leaders participated in the event, which was organized by the conservative, antigay Minnesota Family Council. Michele Bachmann was there to lead a session on the gay marriage amendment, while Marcus offered a presentation titled "The Truth About the Homosexual Agenda."
Curt Prins, a 35-year-old marketing executive from Minneapolis, attended. Prins, who is gay, says he went because he was "curious" and wanted to "understand the language" of the antigay movement. "There was so much bile, I nearly had to leave," Prins recalls. For Marcus Bachmann's session, Prins says there were more than 100 people crammed in a room at Grace, and most of the presentation involved stereotypes of gays. "He was saying how homosexuality was a choice, that it was not genetics," Prins says. "He was claiming there was a high predominance of sexual abuse in the GLBT community. There was no research to back any of this up." (Marcus Bachmann refused to answer questions about the seminar.)
The climax of the presentation was when, according to Prins, Bachmann brought up "three ex-gays, like part of a PowerPoint presentation." The trio, two white men and a black woman, all testified that they had renounced their homosexuality. "One of them said, 'If I was born gay, then I'll have to be born again,'" Prins recalls. "The crowd went crazy."
"Listening to him," Prins surmises, "it becomes clear that he's had a huge impact on her. He might be the spearhead of this whole religious/gay issue." Shortly after Bachmann announced her candidacy for U.S. Congress, there was an announcement on a website called the Minnesota Christian Chronicle. "Michele is a compassionate, intelligent woman of integrity who has a calling in her life. I am confident in Michele's ability to serve the constituents superbly well in the Sixth District," Marcus Bachmann was quoted as saying. "As her husband, I fully endorse Michele running for U.S. Congress. I am so thankful for her Christian testimony. She is a servant who honors Christ."
But Michele Bachmann's Christian testimony has not endeared her to everyone in her family. When Bachmann held a hearing on the gay marriage ban at the Capitol last April, she got a rude surprise: Sitting just a few feet away was her stepsister, Helen LaFave, who chose the occasion to come out publicly for the first time, with her partner of 20 years in attendance. "This issue has been very hurtful to me personally, and divisive for our family," LaFave told the Star Tribune at the time. Bachmann said at the time that she had taken a family vote on the gay marriage ban, and that family members favored it by a 6-3 margin. But both Michael and Helen LaFave insist she never spoke to them about it. Helen LaFave added that Bachmann ignored letters LaFave had sent her about the matter.
(Helen LaFave, 46, declined to be interviewed for this story, saying, "My dad is in his 80s now, and it's too much to have all of this out there for him.")
"I've got to be clear that I've always been kind of proud of Michele," Michael LaFave says cautiously. That all went sour, though, as Bachmann increasingly became the face of the efforts to ban gay marriage at the Capitol. LaFave had no choice but to take things personally: "I wrote her an e-mail, and asked very nicely why she had to carry the water on this, knowing that my father has a gay daughter. How could she discriminate against Helen?
"She's out there courting a family values agenda, but she's saying things about her own family that's not true," he claims. "She could have been talking to the voters the whole time about having a gay sister," he says. "That at least would have been honest. Dick Cheney had the good sense to do that with his daughter. He had the good sense to know not to engage the base, to not get involved in the debate, because he knew how much it would hurt his daughter. If anyone spent the most time together between the LaFaves and the Ambles," LaFave concludes, "it was Michele and Helen.
"What I'd say to Michele is that you've got a situation here that you didn't have to create. You didn't have to go about it this way," he says, and pauses before announcing he'll likely vote for Patty Wetterling. "I'd say, 'Michele, for all of this, you've lost your family. You've lost my vote.'"
Bachmann is the Chosen One, Part II
Part II of the City Pages Bachmann story.
ONE of Michael LaFave's first memories of Michele Bachmann is the two of them cruising around Anoka in his 1961 Chevy as she showed him teen hangouts and points of interest around town. It was 1973, and LaFave's father had just married Michele Amble's mother. He was a senior in high school then, soon to leave the newly blended household on Washington Street, and she was a year younger. "To say we were close would be overstating it," he says of the Ambles and LaFaves, who now counted nine children among them. "But we were a family unit."
By his own admission, LaFave, 51 years old and a union representative who lives in Forest Lake, did not get to know his new stepsister all that well. "I remember that she was book-smart, and did pretty well in school," he recalls. "And she was in a couple of beauty pageants.... She was not overtly political." She was not particularly religious, either, as far as he could see; LaFave calls her born-again identity "a later event in her life," dating to the years after she had gone away to college.
After graduating from Anoka High School in 1974, Michele Amble enrolled at what is now Winona State University. There she became interested in politics, she told the Star Tribune in a January 1, 2005 story, when she wandered into an American government class.
She also met Marcus Bachmann, who was majoring in social work. According to news and blog accounts, the two connected because they were both born-again Christians. Soon after she graduated with a degree in political science and English, the couple married, in 1978. As she has told the story more than once, the two were staunch Democrats who worked on Jimmy Carter's first presidential campaign. Eventually, she became disillusioned with the Democratic Party. The couple soon moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Bachmann enrolled in the Coburn Law School, a Bible-based institution affiliated with Oral Roberts University. According to one version of her résumé, she earned a Juris Doctorate at Coburn in 1986, and post-doctorate degree from William and Mary Law School in Virginia in 1988.
According to Bachmann's CV, she landed a job with "the federal U.S. Tax Court" in St. Paul in 1988. One church bio lists her title there as a "federal litigation tax attorney"—the only job besides being state senator that Bachmann notes on the campaign trail. Some of her critics have called the designation misleading. Setting the record straight in early 2005, Bachmann admitted to City Pages that she in fact worked for the IRS going after tax cheats, a fact she never mentions when she is rallying anti-tax sentiments on the stump.
In 1992, Bachmann quit her job working for the Internal Revenue Service to become a stay-at-home mom. By that time, Marcus Bachmann had launched a career as a counselor/therapist. The couple eventually had five kids of their own (who now range in age from 11 to 23), and candidate Bachmann proudly notes that the couple has taken in 23 foster children over the years.
She didn't always stay at home, though. Increasingly, Bachmann was hitting the church and school circuit as a speaker, railing against what she deemed to be unreasonable federal and state mandates for education. She was a prized pupil in something called the Maple River Education Coalition, which later became EdWatch. (Former Governor Jesse Ventura once said of them, "The Maple River group, they think UFOs are landing next month. They think it's some big government federal conspiracy!") According to the mission statement on its website, EdWatch is concerned about the "undermining" of "constitutional freedoms" due in part to the country's "entire educational system." In the words of one editorial column reposted at the site, "Public education is not among the enumerated powers of the federal government."
Anytime there was a school issue in the east metro, Bachmann was there. "In 1993 or '94, Michele was stumping anti-standards rhetoric," longtime Stillwater School Board member Mary Cecconi recalls. "I went to a church in Lake Elmo, because I wanted to hear her. Everything she said was met with catcalls and 'hallelujah' and 'amen sister.'"
By this time, Bachmann had become one of the founders of the New Heights Charter School, one of the first charter schools in the country. By law, charter schools have to be overseen by a public school district because they are funded, at least in part, by public money as tax-exempt nonprofits. In the fall of 1993, Denise Stephens had one daughter teaching at the school, and one daughter enrolled in the ninth grade. It was the first year that school at New Heights was in session as part of the Stillwater school district.
According to Stephens, it became clear that the charter school's board of directors was populated with right-wing Christians, all of them seeming acolytes of Bachmann. "I started raising questions about whether we were using public money to fund a religious school," Stephens recalls. Among the proposals coming from Bachmann and company was to expand the curriculum to teach creationism. The directors of the charter school, she recalls, were also advocating that "something called '12 Christian principles' be taught, very much like the 10 Commandments." One of the final straws for Stephens, who notes that she's been "a Republican since 1978," was that school officials would not allow the Disney movie Aladdin to be shown because it involved magic and supposedly taught paganism.
Stephens and other parents soon had confrontational meetings with Bachmann and the rest of the charter school group. "One member of Michele's entourage talked about how he had visions, and that God spoke to him directly," Stephens says. "He told us that as Christians we had to lay our lives down for it. I remember getting in the car with my husband afterward and telling him, 'This is a cult.'"
(This closely echoes something former state Senator Laidig says about Bachmann: "She's kind of a spooky person. She's one of those people who feels that God is speaking directly to her, and that justifies her actions.")
Eventually, the Bachmann and Stephens forces met in front of the Stillwater School Board. When confronted, according to Stephens, Bachmann grew angry: Are you going to question my integrity? she demanded. According to Stephens and others, Bachmann and four others resigned on the spot that night, offering what could be described as religious trash-talk on the way out. Bachmann still cites the charter school as a major accomplishment, but makes no mention of her leaving.
BACHMANN was hardly cowed by the setback. She channeled her passions into an increasing number of pamphlets and essays on the ills of public schools. By 1996, Mary Cecconi was sitting on the school board, which made her part of an ongoing sparring match between the board and Bachmann over curriculum. "She wanted to introduce Intelligent Design," Cecconi recalls. "And when you hear her talk about Intelligent Design, it makes sense. I believe in giving children all the information out there, too, so they can make their own decisions. But Intelligent Design wasn't even a school of thought, it wasn't even a viable theory."
Bachmann decided to run for the Stillwater School Board herself in 1999. In a move that still irks many locals, the state's Republican Party lined up a slate of candidates, for what was supposed to be a nonpartisan race. There were five open seats that year, and 19 candidates. The GOP-endorsed candidates became known locally as the "Slate of Five." Cecconi, who was running for re-election, says, "There was this overwhelming sentiment that we didn't want our school system politicized."
Bill Pulkrabek, the Washington County commissioner, had put together the group of GOP-endorsed candidates, and admits now that there was "a little bit of a backlash about the endorsement. It put up some red flags." Collectively, the five endorsed candidates finished dead last in the field.
But it was hardly a losing proposition for Bachmann. The school board run is widely credited with raising her political profile for the first time, giving her campaign experience, and endearing her to party kingmakers. Pulkrabek, who was also the GOP's chair for the Stillwater district at the time, notes that the '99 school board race inspired three times the usual turnout. He also says that was the year he met Bachmann, who told him she wanted to run for Laidig's seat. He, instead, encouraged her to run for school board first: "We talked about knocking off Gary later."
Gary Laidig was running for re-election to be District 56's state senator in 2000. Laidig, then a 28-year incumbent of state House and Senate seats representing the area, recalls being surprised to encounter Bachmann (who by this point had added the title "Dr." to her name) and a number of people from her church at a Woodbury School Board meeting in the late 1990s. She stood up and started denouncing the school's academic standards, and took exception to the national and local school-to-work programs.
Still, Laidig didn't think much of it: "It dawned on me that this [education activism] was her new gig, but I never thought she was going to run for my seat."
ONE of Michael LaFave's first memories of Michele Bachmann is the two of them cruising around Anoka in his 1961 Chevy as she showed him teen hangouts and points of interest around town. It was 1973, and LaFave's father had just married Michele Amble's mother. He was a senior in high school then, soon to leave the newly blended household on Washington Street, and she was a year younger. "To say we were close would be overstating it," he says of the Ambles and LaFaves, who now counted nine children among them. "But we were a family unit."
By his own admission, LaFave, 51 years old and a union representative who lives in Forest Lake, did not get to know his new stepsister all that well. "I remember that she was book-smart, and did pretty well in school," he recalls. "And she was in a couple of beauty pageants.... She was not overtly political." She was not particularly religious, either, as far as he could see; LaFave calls her born-again identity "a later event in her life," dating to the years after she had gone away to college.
After graduating from Anoka High School in 1974, Michele Amble enrolled at what is now Winona State University. There she became interested in politics, she told the Star Tribune in a January 1, 2005 story, when she wandered into an American government class.
She also met Marcus Bachmann, who was majoring in social work. According to news and blog accounts, the two connected because they were both born-again Christians. Soon after she graduated with a degree in political science and English, the couple married, in 1978. As she has told the story more than once, the two were staunch Democrats who worked on Jimmy Carter's first presidential campaign. Eventually, she became disillusioned with the Democratic Party. The couple soon moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Bachmann enrolled in the Coburn Law School, a Bible-based institution affiliated with Oral Roberts University. According to one version of her résumé, she earned a Juris Doctorate at Coburn in 1986, and post-doctorate degree from William and Mary Law School in Virginia in 1988.
According to Bachmann's CV, she landed a job with "the federal U.S. Tax Court" in St. Paul in 1988. One church bio lists her title there as a "federal litigation tax attorney"—the only job besides being state senator that Bachmann notes on the campaign trail. Some of her critics have called the designation misleading. Setting the record straight in early 2005, Bachmann admitted to City Pages that she in fact worked for the IRS going after tax cheats, a fact she never mentions when she is rallying anti-tax sentiments on the stump.
In 1992, Bachmann quit her job working for the Internal Revenue Service to become a stay-at-home mom. By that time, Marcus Bachmann had launched a career as a counselor/therapist. The couple eventually had five kids of their own (who now range in age from 11 to 23), and candidate Bachmann proudly notes that the couple has taken in 23 foster children over the years.
She didn't always stay at home, though. Increasingly, Bachmann was hitting the church and school circuit as a speaker, railing against what she deemed to be unreasonable federal and state mandates for education. She was a prized pupil in something called the Maple River Education Coalition, which later became EdWatch. (Former Governor Jesse Ventura once said of them, "The Maple River group, they think UFOs are landing next month. They think it's some big government federal conspiracy!") According to the mission statement on its website, EdWatch is concerned about the "undermining" of "constitutional freedoms" due in part to the country's "entire educational system." In the words of one editorial column reposted at the site, "Public education is not among the enumerated powers of the federal government."
Anytime there was a school issue in the east metro, Bachmann was there. "In 1993 or '94, Michele was stumping anti-standards rhetoric," longtime Stillwater School Board member Mary Cecconi recalls. "I went to a church in Lake Elmo, because I wanted to hear her. Everything she said was met with catcalls and 'hallelujah' and 'amen sister.'"
By this time, Bachmann had become one of the founders of the New Heights Charter School, one of the first charter schools in the country. By law, charter schools have to be overseen by a public school district because they are funded, at least in part, by public money as tax-exempt nonprofits. In the fall of 1993, Denise Stephens had one daughter teaching at the school, and one daughter enrolled in the ninth grade. It was the first year that school at New Heights was in session as part of the Stillwater school district.
According to Stephens, it became clear that the charter school's board of directors was populated with right-wing Christians, all of them seeming acolytes of Bachmann. "I started raising questions about whether we were using public money to fund a religious school," Stephens recalls. Among the proposals coming from Bachmann and company was to expand the curriculum to teach creationism. The directors of the charter school, she recalls, were also advocating that "something called '12 Christian principles' be taught, very much like the 10 Commandments." One of the final straws for Stephens, who notes that she's been "a Republican since 1978," was that school officials would not allow the Disney movie Aladdin to be shown because it involved magic and supposedly taught paganism.
Stephens and other parents soon had confrontational meetings with Bachmann and the rest of the charter school group. "One member of Michele's entourage talked about how he had visions, and that God spoke to him directly," Stephens says. "He told us that as Christians we had to lay our lives down for it. I remember getting in the car with my husband afterward and telling him, 'This is a cult.'"
(This closely echoes something former state Senator Laidig says about Bachmann: "She's kind of a spooky person. She's one of those people who feels that God is speaking directly to her, and that justifies her actions.")
Eventually, the Bachmann and Stephens forces met in front of the Stillwater School Board. When confronted, according to Stephens, Bachmann grew angry: Are you going to question my integrity? she demanded. According to Stephens and others, Bachmann and four others resigned on the spot that night, offering what could be described as religious trash-talk on the way out. Bachmann still cites the charter school as a major accomplishment, but makes no mention of her leaving.
BACHMANN was hardly cowed by the setback. She channeled her passions into an increasing number of pamphlets and essays on the ills of public schools. By 1996, Mary Cecconi was sitting on the school board, which made her part of an ongoing sparring match between the board and Bachmann over curriculum. "She wanted to introduce Intelligent Design," Cecconi recalls. "And when you hear her talk about Intelligent Design, it makes sense. I believe in giving children all the information out there, too, so they can make their own decisions. But Intelligent Design wasn't even a school of thought, it wasn't even a viable theory."
Bachmann decided to run for the Stillwater School Board herself in 1999. In a move that still irks many locals, the state's Republican Party lined up a slate of candidates, for what was supposed to be a nonpartisan race. There were five open seats that year, and 19 candidates. The GOP-endorsed candidates became known locally as the "Slate of Five." Cecconi, who was running for re-election, says, "There was this overwhelming sentiment that we didn't want our school system politicized."
Bill Pulkrabek, the Washington County commissioner, had put together the group of GOP-endorsed candidates, and admits now that there was "a little bit of a backlash about the endorsement. It put up some red flags." Collectively, the five endorsed candidates finished dead last in the field.
But it was hardly a losing proposition for Bachmann. The school board run is widely credited with raising her political profile for the first time, giving her campaign experience, and endearing her to party kingmakers. Pulkrabek, who was also the GOP's chair for the Stillwater district at the time, notes that the '99 school board race inspired three times the usual turnout. He also says that was the year he met Bachmann, who told him she wanted to run for Laidig's seat. He, instead, encouraged her to run for school board first: "We talked about knocking off Gary later."
Gary Laidig was running for re-election to be District 56's state senator in 2000. Laidig, then a 28-year incumbent of state House and Senate seats representing the area, recalls being surprised to encounter Bachmann (who by this point had added the title "Dr." to her name) and a number of people from her church at a Woodbury School Board meeting in the late 1990s. She stood up and started denouncing the school's academic standards, and took exception to the national and local school-to-work programs.
Still, Laidig didn't think much of it: "It dawned on me that this [education activism] was her new gig, but I never thought she was going to run for my seat."
Bachmann is the Chosen One Part I
About a month before the November election, the City Pages ran a long and insightful piece on Michele Bachmann. I have broken it up into 4 installments...
On the August day when George W. Bush came to town to keynote her congressional fundraiser, Michele Bachmann showed up in a prim, conservative-correct, proud-to-be-a-lady pink suit with matching gloves and pearl accessories. She had her Dorian Gray thing going on, big time: The preternaturally youthful Bachmann, who is 50, could have passed for 35, maybe even 30, from more than a few yards away. She looked as radiant as a schoolgirl prepping for her confirmation—or a princess awaiting coronation.
And why not? Bachmann's joint appearance with the president represented her coming-out party on the national stage, the brightest moment yet in a whirlwind seven-year electoral career that has made her Minnesota's most famous Christian conservative, and perhaps the most polarizing figure in state politics.
"I couldn't be more thrilled," she beamed to reporters outside a hotel ballroom where Bush appeared that afternoon. "If I can take the endorsement of the leader of the Republican Party and the leader of this nation, I will welcome it gladly," she said. (Through campaign aides, Bachmann declined to be interviewed for this story.)
The Bush visit, which followed local appearances by Karl Rove and Dick Cheney on Bachmann's behalf, reportedly raised $500,000 for her Sixth District campaign. It underscored how badly the Iraq-torn, defector-ridden Bush GOP wants to put more lockstep soldiers like Bachmann in Congress. It also said something about the composition of Bachmann's district: In a campaign season when many Republican candidates are discreetly avoiding any association with Bush—or, like onetime White House marionette Mark Kennedy, running full-tilt away from him—most pundits concur that the Sixth is one of those rare blue-state districts where his blessing may still be an asset. Small wonder the Bush administration reportedly counts it among the five most important House races in the country.
So far, however, Bachmann has apparently failed to build a secure lead in her race against DFLer Patty Wetterling and little-known Independent John Binkowski. Political tip sheets are mixed in their assessments: The Rothenberg Political Report lists the district as "toss-up, tilt Republican," while the Cook Political Report has it "leaning Republican." But Congressional Quarterly has the race listed with "no clear favorite," and ElectionProjection.com declares the Sixth a "weak GOP hold." The first publicly released poll, conducted by SurveyUSA for KSTP-TV, showed Bachmann holding a 50-41 lead over Wetterling in mid-September, with Binkowski taking 5 percent. But considering the poll's 3.9 percent margin of error, that could spell a relatively comfortable lead or a perilously thin one.
In either case, the GOP is taking nothing for granted: A week later, the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee had injected $500,000 into the race since mid-August, all for electronic and direct-mail ads designed to attack Wetterling. And the candidate is sure to do her part as well. "Michele is a fascinating combination of charm and sheer grit," says longtime Republican pundit Sarah Janecek. "She's one of the toughest campaigners I've seen in a long time, especially if there's a tight race. I know that right now she's hitting the phones harder than ever, and she's hauling herself to events across the district that are 45 minutes apart. What I'm hearing is that Michele is everywhere and that Patty isn't out there as much.
"Even when she was just running for state races, she was notorious for having teams of people at every parade. It was like she was running for Congress even when she was just running for a state office. Her determination is galling to anyone who opposes her."
Technically, Bachmann's political odyssey began in 1999, when she was part of a controversial slate of GOP-endorsed candidates for the traditionally nonpartisan Stillwater School Board. She and her compatriots lost that battle, collectively finishing at the bottom of the heap on Election Day. To date, it's the only election Bachmann has lost. She came back the very next year, mounting a stealthy and deadly-effective campaign to unseat incumbent GOP State Senator Gary Laidig, a Vietnam veteran and old-school Republican moderate who had represented the area in a state House or Senate seat since 1972.
But in a broader sense Bachmann had been honing her political chops and pursuing the role of uber-Christian public activist for years by that time. Back in 1993, she helped to start a Stillwater charter school that ran afoul of many parents and the local school board when it became apparent that the school—which received public money and therefore was bound to observe the legal separation of church and state—was injecting Christain elements into the curriculum. After Bachmann and company were driven out of that venture, she became a prolific speaker and writer on the evils of public education in the years leading up to her failed school board run.
By all accounts, she made herself into a formidable presence. "She's articulate, attractive, and speaks passionately," says Mary Cecconi, who spent eight years on the Stillwater School Board. "Actually, she is ferocious."
On the stump in 2006, Bachmann still calls education reform one of her "number one priority" issues, along with tax reform and homeland security. Her critics, in turn—who include a number of non-evangelical Republicans—point a wary finger at her ties to a religious conservative think tank called EdWatch, and contend that none of her five children has attended public school.
The most surprising omission from Bachmann's campaign, meanwhile, is any talk of the proposed gay marriage ban that made her a household name. Though one page on the Bachmann for Congress website does note that she was the "chief author of a constitutional amendment in the Minnesota Senate defining marriage as between one man and one woman," she has mostly stayed mum about religious themes and the pet social issues of evangelicals.
"She's not afraid to wear her social issues on her sleeve, and that's what most people in the district relate to," claims Bill Pulkrabek, a Washington County commissioner who was instrumental in Bachmann's 1999 school board run. He rationalizes her relative silence this way: "The media has branded her as a social conservative, so she doesn't need to go out there and be rah-rah on social causes."
Or maybe she and her strategists think that advertising the extent of her Christian political vision would prove divisive even in the conservative Sixth. "She is absolutely a cold, calculating person," says Gary Laidig, the Republican she unseated en route to the state Senate in 2000. "It's always the same with her on campaigns: Nobody really knows who she is, and she just comes across as this petite, attractive soccer mom. And that's it. But the fact is, she's part of a group that is absolutely determined to take over the Republican Party. It's that wing of the party that's very much in step with people like Norm Coleman and the Taxpayers League. And the fact is that they know how to run races. Good races, too. From getting delegates to hitting phone banks, they cover it, and Michele's part of that.
"At the end of the day, her politics are like this: Everyone will have a gun, nobody will have an abortion, no one will pay taxes, everyone will go to church, and there won't be any more pinko liberal teachers in school."
To be continued
On the August day when George W. Bush came to town to keynote her congressional fundraiser, Michele Bachmann showed up in a prim, conservative-correct, proud-to-be-a-lady pink suit with matching gloves and pearl accessories. She had her Dorian Gray thing going on, big time: The preternaturally youthful Bachmann, who is 50, could have passed for 35, maybe even 30, from more than a few yards away. She looked as radiant as a schoolgirl prepping for her confirmation—or a princess awaiting coronation.
And why not? Bachmann's joint appearance with the president represented her coming-out party on the national stage, the brightest moment yet in a whirlwind seven-year electoral career that has made her Minnesota's most famous Christian conservative, and perhaps the most polarizing figure in state politics.
"I couldn't be more thrilled," she beamed to reporters outside a hotel ballroom where Bush appeared that afternoon. "If I can take the endorsement of the leader of the Republican Party and the leader of this nation, I will welcome it gladly," she said. (Through campaign aides, Bachmann declined to be interviewed for this story.)
The Bush visit, which followed local appearances by Karl Rove and Dick Cheney on Bachmann's behalf, reportedly raised $500,000 for her Sixth District campaign. It underscored how badly the Iraq-torn, defector-ridden Bush GOP wants to put more lockstep soldiers like Bachmann in Congress. It also said something about the composition of Bachmann's district: In a campaign season when many Republican candidates are discreetly avoiding any association with Bush—or, like onetime White House marionette Mark Kennedy, running full-tilt away from him—most pundits concur that the Sixth is one of those rare blue-state districts where his blessing may still be an asset. Small wonder the Bush administration reportedly counts it among the five most important House races in the country.
So far, however, Bachmann has apparently failed to build a secure lead in her race against DFLer Patty Wetterling and little-known Independent John Binkowski. Political tip sheets are mixed in their assessments: The Rothenberg Political Report lists the district as "toss-up, tilt Republican," while the Cook Political Report has it "leaning Republican." But Congressional Quarterly has the race listed with "no clear favorite," and ElectionProjection.com declares the Sixth a "weak GOP hold." The first publicly released poll, conducted by SurveyUSA for KSTP-TV, showed Bachmann holding a 50-41 lead over Wetterling in mid-September, with Binkowski taking 5 percent. But considering the poll's 3.9 percent margin of error, that could spell a relatively comfortable lead or a perilously thin one.
In either case, the GOP is taking nothing for granted: A week later, the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee had injected $500,000 into the race since mid-August, all for electronic and direct-mail ads designed to attack Wetterling. And the candidate is sure to do her part as well. "Michele is a fascinating combination of charm and sheer grit," says longtime Republican pundit Sarah Janecek. "She's one of the toughest campaigners I've seen in a long time, especially if there's a tight race. I know that right now she's hitting the phones harder than ever, and she's hauling herself to events across the district that are 45 minutes apart. What I'm hearing is that Michele is everywhere and that Patty isn't out there as much.
"Even when she was just running for state races, she was notorious for having teams of people at every parade. It was like she was running for Congress even when she was just running for a state office. Her determination is galling to anyone who opposes her."
Technically, Bachmann's political odyssey began in 1999, when she was part of a controversial slate of GOP-endorsed candidates for the traditionally nonpartisan Stillwater School Board. She and her compatriots lost that battle, collectively finishing at the bottom of the heap on Election Day. To date, it's the only election Bachmann has lost. She came back the very next year, mounting a stealthy and deadly-effective campaign to unseat incumbent GOP State Senator Gary Laidig, a Vietnam veteran and old-school Republican moderate who had represented the area in a state House or Senate seat since 1972.
But in a broader sense Bachmann had been honing her political chops and pursuing the role of uber-Christian public activist for years by that time. Back in 1993, she helped to start a Stillwater charter school that ran afoul of many parents and the local school board when it became apparent that the school—which received public money and therefore was bound to observe the legal separation of church and state—was injecting Christain elements into the curriculum. After Bachmann and company were driven out of that venture, she became a prolific speaker and writer on the evils of public education in the years leading up to her failed school board run.
By all accounts, she made herself into a formidable presence. "She's articulate, attractive, and speaks passionately," says Mary Cecconi, who spent eight years on the Stillwater School Board. "Actually, she is ferocious."
On the stump in 2006, Bachmann still calls education reform one of her "number one priority" issues, along with tax reform and homeland security. Her critics, in turn—who include a number of non-evangelical Republicans—point a wary finger at her ties to a religious conservative think tank called EdWatch, and contend that none of her five children has attended public school.
The most surprising omission from Bachmann's campaign, meanwhile, is any talk of the proposed gay marriage ban that made her a household name. Though one page on the Bachmann for Congress website does note that she was the "chief author of a constitutional amendment in the Minnesota Senate defining marriage as between one man and one woman," she has mostly stayed mum about religious themes and the pet social issues of evangelicals.
"She's not afraid to wear her social issues on her sleeve, and that's what most people in the district relate to," claims Bill Pulkrabek, a Washington County commissioner who was instrumental in Bachmann's 1999 school board run. He rationalizes her relative silence this way: "The media has branded her as a social conservative, so she doesn't need to go out there and be rah-rah on social causes."
Or maybe she and her strategists think that advertising the extent of her Christian political vision would prove divisive even in the conservative Sixth. "She is absolutely a cold, calculating person," says Gary Laidig, the Republican she unseated en route to the state Senate in 2000. "It's always the same with her on campaigns: Nobody really knows who she is, and she just comes across as this petite, attractive soccer mom. And that's it. But the fact is, she's part of a group that is absolutely determined to take over the Republican Party. It's that wing of the party that's very much in step with people like Norm Coleman and the Taxpayers League. And the fact is that they know how to run races. Good races, too. From getting delegates to hitting phone banks, they cover it, and Michele's part of that.
"At the end of the day, her politics are like this: Everyone will have a gun, nobody will have an abortion, no one will pay taxes, everyone will go to church, and there won't be any more pinko liberal teachers in school."
To be continued
Bachmann's Greatest Hits!
From the City Pages! The article is great and has a nice sidebar and Bachmann's greatest hits!
Enjoy...
Michele Bachmann's Greatest Hits
How did she become the most divisive pol in Minnesota? Let us count the ways
By G.R. Anderson Jr.
· March 14, 2001 Just weeks after taking office, Bachmann introduces a bill that would prohibit the use of state money for abortion services. S.F. No. 1748 is referred to committee and dies.
· April 26, 2001 Bachmann votes against a bill that would provide funding for higher education across the state—some $138 million in new funding for the U of M, and another $130 for the MnSCU system.
· February 19, 2002 A bill that would require that stillbirths be noted as official births with the state registrar is introduced in the Senate by Bachmann. It dies in committee.
· September 29, 2003 Bachmann is quoted in the Stillwater Gazette after giving an interview on religious station KKMS-AM (980) in which she weighs in on creationism. "I give more credence in the Scripture as being kind of a timeless word of God to mankind, and I take it for what it is," she's quoted as saying. "And I don't think I give as much credence to my own mind, because I see myself as being very limited and very flawed, and lacking in knowledge and wisdom and understanding. So, I just take the Bible for what it is, I guess, and recognize that I am not a scientist, not trained to be a scientist. I'm not a deep thinker on all of this. I wish I was. I wish I was more knowledgeable, but I'm not a scientist."
· October 31, 2003 Bachmann attends a "Ten Commandments Rally" on the steps of the Capitol, which has Bachmann and 200 others calling for the commandments to be displayed in schools and public buildings.
· March 9, 2004 Bachmann introduces a bill in the Senate proposing an amendment to the state constitution "recognizing as marriage only a union between a man and a woman." S.F. No. 2715 goes on to propose that "any other relationship shall not be recognized as a marriage or its legal equivalent."
· March 2004 Bachmann conducts a series of interviews with Jan Markell, founder of Olive Tree, a "Jews for Jesus" ministry. On KKMS, Bachmann calls the gay marriage issue a "ticking time bomb" that must be voted on by Minnesotans before "an activist judge could impose his morality on all Minnesotans."
"Little children will be forced to learn that homosexuality is normal and natural and perhaps they should try it," she continues, claiming that a gay agenda would infiltrate schools. "It will take away the civil rights of little children to be protected in their innocence, but also the rights of parents to control their kids' education and threaten their deeply held religious beliefs.
"This is not about hating homosexuals. I love homosexuals," Bachmann concludes. "But should we allow them to teach sinful ways [to] our children?"
· January 26, 2005 In a Senate subcommittee hearing, Bachmann is a voice of dissent on a Senate bill that would raise the minimum wage. "Literally, if we took away the minimum wage—if conceivably it was gone—we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level," she offers at one point. "I had wondered, if most employers are doing this anyway, isn't minimum wage just superfluous? Why do we even have one?"
· February 3, 2005 Bachmann authors a state resolution to honor the birthday of Ronald Reagan, a president who never carried Minnesota in an election.
· February 4, 2005 Bachmann proposes legislation to designate I-494 and I-694 as the "Ronald Reagan Beltway." It doesn't get a hearing.
· March 11, 2005 Bachmann reintroduces her gay marriage ban bill in the Senate.
· March 11, 2005 Bachmann introduces a bill called "Free Speech for Faculty and Students Bill of Rights." In it, she proposes that students be graded "according to reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge" of their studies, and "shall not be discriminated against on the basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs." In a fit of political correctness, Bachmann also proposes that "faculty shall not be hired, fired, granted tenure, or denied promotion or tenure on the basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs."
· March 30, 2005 Bachmann, as a co-author, gets her gay marriage ban proposal to the House. H.F. No. 6 proposes an amendment to the state constitution "recognizing as marriage only a union between a man and a woman."
· April 7, 2005 Bachmann is caught on film crouching behind the bushes during a pro-gay rights rally at the Capitol. The implication is that she's spying on people who march in favor of same-sex marriage. After much publicity on the internet, Bachmann tells the Strib: "I had high heels on and I just couldn't stand anymore. I was not in the bushes."
· April 9, 2005 Two days later, at a public forum on the gay marriage ban, Bachmann leaves early after an incident in a bathroom at the Scandia City Hall. She files a police report claiming she was held against her will by two members of a "gay and lesbian activist group." "I don't think there's a crime for us to investigate," Sheriff Jim Frank tells the Star Tribune at the time, even though the police report suggests that Bachmann was briefly blocked from leaving the restroom.
An account of the episode posted on an anti-Bachmann website reports that people outside heard her "piercing screams" of "Help!!!!" and that when she emerged "in a crouching run" she cried, "I was being held against my will!" The Washington County Sheriff's Department investigates Bachmann's complaint and forwards the results to the county attorney's office. The case is dropped.
· November 12, 2005 Bachmann shares her views on cultural diversity at a GOP forum at the Mermaid entertainment center in Moundsview. She calls the 2005 riots in France the "fruits of leftism," according to the St. Paul Legal Ledger. And, according to the Stillwater Gazette and other news accounts, she adds: "There's a movement afoot that's occurring, and part of that is this whole philosophical idea of multicultural diversity. Which on the face sounds wonderful. Let's appreciate everyone's cultures. Guess what? Not all cultures are equal. Not all values are equal."
· May 3, 2006 Bachmann tells Minnesota Public Radio that the United States has to be "very aggressive" dealing with Iran, adding that "We can't remove any option off the table and we should not remove the nuclear response."
· August 30, 2006 The congressional candidate weighs in on the visit from President Bush with Jason Lewis on KTLK-FM (100.3). First she notes that Dubya is an "awesome date," before adding, "He's so buff. He's like you, Jason, he has 1 percent body fat."
Karl Bremer, Eva Young, and dumpbachmann.blogspot.com contributed source materials to this timeline.
That's one heck of a good timeline!
Enjoy...
Michele Bachmann's Greatest Hits
How did she become the most divisive pol in Minnesota? Let us count the ways
By G.R. Anderson Jr.
· March 14, 2001 Just weeks after taking office, Bachmann introduces a bill that would prohibit the use of state money for abortion services. S.F. No. 1748 is referred to committee and dies.
· April 26, 2001 Bachmann votes against a bill that would provide funding for higher education across the state—some $138 million in new funding for the U of M, and another $130 for the MnSCU system.
· February 19, 2002 A bill that would require that stillbirths be noted as official births with the state registrar is introduced in the Senate by Bachmann. It dies in committee.
· September 29, 2003 Bachmann is quoted in the Stillwater Gazette after giving an interview on religious station KKMS-AM (980) in which she weighs in on creationism. "I give more credence in the Scripture as being kind of a timeless word of God to mankind, and I take it for what it is," she's quoted as saying. "And I don't think I give as much credence to my own mind, because I see myself as being very limited and very flawed, and lacking in knowledge and wisdom and understanding. So, I just take the Bible for what it is, I guess, and recognize that I am not a scientist, not trained to be a scientist. I'm not a deep thinker on all of this. I wish I was. I wish I was more knowledgeable, but I'm not a scientist."
· October 31, 2003 Bachmann attends a "Ten Commandments Rally" on the steps of the Capitol, which has Bachmann and 200 others calling for the commandments to be displayed in schools and public buildings.
· March 9, 2004 Bachmann introduces a bill in the Senate proposing an amendment to the state constitution "recognizing as marriage only a union between a man and a woman." S.F. No. 2715 goes on to propose that "any other relationship shall not be recognized as a marriage or its legal equivalent."
· March 2004 Bachmann conducts a series of interviews with Jan Markell, founder of Olive Tree, a "Jews for Jesus" ministry. On KKMS, Bachmann calls the gay marriage issue a "ticking time bomb" that must be voted on by Minnesotans before "an activist judge could impose his morality on all Minnesotans."
"Little children will be forced to learn that homosexuality is normal and natural and perhaps they should try it," she continues, claiming that a gay agenda would infiltrate schools. "It will take away the civil rights of little children to be protected in their innocence, but also the rights of parents to control their kids' education and threaten their deeply held religious beliefs.
"This is not about hating homosexuals. I love homosexuals," Bachmann concludes. "But should we allow them to teach sinful ways [to] our children?"
· January 26, 2005 In a Senate subcommittee hearing, Bachmann is a voice of dissent on a Senate bill that would raise the minimum wage. "Literally, if we took away the minimum wage—if conceivably it was gone—we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level," she offers at one point. "I had wondered, if most employers are doing this anyway, isn't minimum wage just superfluous? Why do we even have one?"
· February 3, 2005 Bachmann authors a state resolution to honor the birthday of Ronald Reagan, a president who never carried Minnesota in an election.
· February 4, 2005 Bachmann proposes legislation to designate I-494 and I-694 as the "Ronald Reagan Beltway." It doesn't get a hearing.
· March 11, 2005 Bachmann reintroduces her gay marriage ban bill in the Senate.
· March 11, 2005 Bachmann introduces a bill called "Free Speech for Faculty and Students Bill of Rights." In it, she proposes that students be graded "according to reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge" of their studies, and "shall not be discriminated against on the basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs." In a fit of political correctness, Bachmann also proposes that "faculty shall not be hired, fired, granted tenure, or denied promotion or tenure on the basis of political, ideological, or religious beliefs."
· March 30, 2005 Bachmann, as a co-author, gets her gay marriage ban proposal to the House. H.F. No. 6 proposes an amendment to the state constitution "recognizing as marriage only a union between a man and a woman."
· April 7, 2005 Bachmann is caught on film crouching behind the bushes during a pro-gay rights rally at the Capitol. The implication is that she's spying on people who march in favor of same-sex marriage. After much publicity on the internet, Bachmann tells the Strib: "I had high heels on and I just couldn't stand anymore. I was not in the bushes."
· April 9, 2005 Two days later, at a public forum on the gay marriage ban, Bachmann leaves early after an incident in a bathroom at the Scandia City Hall. She files a police report claiming she was held against her will by two members of a "gay and lesbian activist group." "I don't think there's a crime for us to investigate," Sheriff Jim Frank tells the Star Tribune at the time, even though the police report suggests that Bachmann was briefly blocked from leaving the restroom.
An account of the episode posted on an anti-Bachmann website reports that people outside heard her "piercing screams" of "Help!!!!" and that when she emerged "in a crouching run" she cried, "I was being held against my will!" The Washington County Sheriff's Department investigates Bachmann's complaint and forwards the results to the county attorney's office. The case is dropped.
· November 12, 2005 Bachmann shares her views on cultural diversity at a GOP forum at the Mermaid entertainment center in Moundsview. She calls the 2005 riots in France the "fruits of leftism," according to the St. Paul Legal Ledger. And, according to the Stillwater Gazette and other news accounts, she adds: "There's a movement afoot that's occurring, and part of that is this whole philosophical idea of multicultural diversity. Which on the face sounds wonderful. Let's appreciate everyone's cultures. Guess what? Not all cultures are equal. Not all values are equal."
· May 3, 2006 Bachmann tells Minnesota Public Radio that the United States has to be "very aggressive" dealing with Iran, adding that "We can't remove any option off the table and we should not remove the nuclear response."
· August 30, 2006 The congressional candidate weighs in on the visit from President Bush with Jason Lewis on KTLK-FM (100.3). First she notes that Dubya is an "awesome date," before adding, "He's so buff. He's like you, Jason, he has 1 percent body fat."
Karl Bremer, Eva Young, and dumpbachmann.blogspot.com contributed source materials to this timeline.
That's one heck of a good timeline!
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to everyone!
Christmas has been very good this year! Spent time at multiple locations and now have a new found appreciation for "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". You know who you are...Mandy.
Thanks to everyone and Merry Christmas.
Christmas has been very good this year! Spent time at multiple locations and now have a new found appreciation for "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". You know who you are...Mandy.
Thanks to everyone and Merry Christmas.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Smoking and lung cancer
I suppose banning cheeseburgers would increase one's quality of life as well...
It's an interesting study...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061222/hl_nm/lung_cancer_dc
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Once people have been diagnosed with lung cancer they might think it pointless to stop smoking, but in fact it's not too late to benefit from quitting, a new study shows.
Researchers found that among more than 200 lung cancer patients at their center, those who quit smoking after the diagnosis became less severely impaired by the disease than those who kept up the habit.
Specifically, their "performance status" -- a measure of patients' ability to care for themselves and function in daily life -- was generally higher, according to findings published in the medical journal Chest.
Patients who gave up cigarettes did not live appreciably longer than those who continued smoking, the study found, but the difference in quality of life highlights the importance of quitting even after lung cancer develops, according to the study authors.
"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate a correlation between smoking cessation after diagnosis and performance status," write Dr. Sevin Baser and his colleagues.
The researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston based their findings on 206 men and women treated at their center for non-small cell lung cancer -- which, of the two major forms of lung cancer, is the less aggressive type.
Of these patients, 93 were smokers at the time of diagnosis, and half subsequently quit.
Over the next year, there was no clear difference in survival odds between the two groups, Baser's team found. However, patients who quit smoking were far more likely to maintain their performance status, which essentially means they had greater well-being.
The difference was seen regardless of a patient's age, overall health or stage of cancer, according to the researchers.
Continued smoking, they note, may deteriorate a lung cancer patient's quality of life by starving their tissues of oxygen, which worsens outcomes from chemotherapy and radiation. It may also speed the weight loss that often comes with cancer.
"Our results," the researchers write, "highlight the importance of smoking cessation in lung cancer patients and provide oncologists with additional evidence for making this recommendation."
SOURCE: Chest, December 2006.
It's an interesting study...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061222/hl_nm/lung_cancer_dc
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Once people have been diagnosed with lung cancer they might think it pointless to stop smoking, but in fact it's not too late to benefit from quitting, a new study shows.
Researchers found that among more than 200 lung cancer patients at their center, those who quit smoking after the diagnosis became less severely impaired by the disease than those who kept up the habit.
Specifically, their "performance status" -- a measure of patients' ability to care for themselves and function in daily life -- was generally higher, according to findings published in the medical journal Chest.
Patients who gave up cigarettes did not live appreciably longer than those who continued smoking, the study found, but the difference in quality of life highlights the importance of quitting even after lung cancer develops, according to the study authors.
"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate a correlation between smoking cessation after diagnosis and performance status," write Dr. Sevin Baser and his colleagues.
The researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston based their findings on 206 men and women treated at their center for non-small cell lung cancer -- which, of the two major forms of lung cancer, is the less aggressive type.
Of these patients, 93 were smokers at the time of diagnosis, and half subsequently quit.
Over the next year, there was no clear difference in survival odds between the two groups, Baser's team found. However, patients who quit smoking were far more likely to maintain their performance status, which essentially means they had greater well-being.
The difference was seen regardless of a patient's age, overall health or stage of cancer, according to the researchers.
Continued smoking, they note, may deteriorate a lung cancer patient's quality of life by starving their tissues of oxygen, which worsens outcomes from chemotherapy and radiation. It may also speed the weight loss that often comes with cancer.
"Our results," the researchers write, "highlight the importance of smoking cessation in lung cancer patients and provide oncologists with additional evidence for making this recommendation."
SOURCE: Chest, December 2006.
A headline at Yahoo that describes me...
It has nothing to do with blogging or beer...
Why do people wait until the last minute to buy gifts?
Why do people wait until the last minute to buy gifts?
Off to finish my shopping!
Kiffmeyer and the blogger
MDE had has multiple posts calling Secretary of State elect Mark Ritchie unqualified for office.
MDE was the only "media" member invited to attend a transition session with Kiffmeyer and Ritchie. No wonder the meeting lasted only 20 minutes or so. What qualificiations does MDE possess in the SoS realm? None the I am aware of.
Blog House at the Strib took her to task as well.
One of the big raps against Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer was that she had politicized the office. Not so, she responded, despite the fact that she:
• Was an advocate for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
• Recruited and trained poll watchers from groups like the Minnesota Taxpayers League and the Minnesota Family Council.
• Pushed policies that would have, in effect, made it more difficult for minority and elderly voters -- two groups predominantly Democratic -- to register to vote.
On Nov. 7, DFLer Mark Ritchie finally made the rap stick, defeating Kiffmeyer 49 percent to 44 percent.
The first transition meeting was held Thursday. In attendance were Kiffmeyer; Ritchie; Beth Fraser, a Ritchie senior staffer and soon-to-be director of intergovernmental affairs, and, of course, rabidly partisan blogger Michael Brodkorb of Minnesota Democrats Exposed.
No, Kiffmeyer's not political at all.
For something important like a transition meeting, you'd think Kiffmeyer would invite an aide to attend, as Ritchie did.
"Mark brought one of his campaign people with him -- a very adversarial, political operative campaign person [Fraser]," Kiffmeyer said in an interview. "I kind of thought that might happen. And I wanted someone. I didn't want to involve my official staff or any of my campaign people ... [I wanted] someone who would be able to be an advocate for me."
No one better than Brodkorb for that role. When you're looking for Republican water to be carried, look no further than MDE.
And he came through. The brief meeting was in the early morning; Brodkorb had an anti-Ritchie post up by noon.
Brodkorb's not the bad guy here. Any blogger would have accepted this kind of access. But it's hard to imagine any other officeholder doing what Kiffmeyer did.
She claims she was protecting herself. "If someone walks out and mischaracterizes the meeting, then I would have the ability to make sure that it was clear and understandable."
Ritchie didn't have much of a chance to mischaracterize anything. Brodkorb started posting less than four hours after the meeting broke.
Kiffmeyer said she was "shocked" that Brodkorb was posting about the meeting: "If I had known that, I would have told him not to." But she wouldn't commit to asking him to relent from future posts.
If Kiffmeyer were really interested in a record of the meeting or in protecting her office, she could have invited a representative of the media, rather than the state's leading GOP attack blogger.
Kiffmeyer recalled that, during the campaign, Ritchie had charged "that I'm incompetent, my staff is incompetent, we're all just terrible," she said. "These kinds of comments ... do make a difference."
Fine. But right now, she's still on the state's dime, and the transition between administrations is important. If Kiffmeyer is miffed about the campaign, she can make crank calls to Ritchie when she's Private Citizen Kiffmeyer. In the meantime, she's Secretary of State Kiffmeyer, and, for a change, she might want to leave her politics at home.
Enough, already
Right Kiffmeyer...you invite a GOP blogger to a transition meeting and you expect MDE to not post anything about it? Come on Kiffmeyer? Are you really that naive? From a man with hundreds of posts pre-election...you expected him to not take a shot at Ritchie?
I agree, enough already. We'll remember the partisan nature she ran a non-partisan office of advocacy when Mark Olson is removed from his House seat in 16B and Kiffmeyer runs in the special election.
MDE was the only "media" member invited to attend a transition session with Kiffmeyer and Ritchie. No wonder the meeting lasted only 20 minutes or so. What qualificiations does MDE possess in the SoS realm? None the I am aware of.
Blog House at the Strib took her to task as well.
One of the big raps against Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer was that she had politicized the office. Not so, she responded, despite the fact that she:
• Was an advocate for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
• Recruited and trained poll watchers from groups like the Minnesota Taxpayers League and the Minnesota Family Council.
• Pushed policies that would have, in effect, made it more difficult for minority and elderly voters -- two groups predominantly Democratic -- to register to vote.
On Nov. 7, DFLer Mark Ritchie finally made the rap stick, defeating Kiffmeyer 49 percent to 44 percent.
The first transition meeting was held Thursday. In attendance were Kiffmeyer; Ritchie; Beth Fraser, a Ritchie senior staffer and soon-to-be director of intergovernmental affairs, and, of course, rabidly partisan blogger Michael Brodkorb of Minnesota Democrats Exposed.
No, Kiffmeyer's not political at all.
For something important like a transition meeting, you'd think Kiffmeyer would invite an aide to attend, as Ritchie did.
"Mark brought one of his campaign people with him -- a very adversarial, political operative campaign person [Fraser]," Kiffmeyer said in an interview. "I kind of thought that might happen. And I wanted someone. I didn't want to involve my official staff or any of my campaign people ... [I wanted] someone who would be able to be an advocate for me."
No one better than Brodkorb for that role. When you're looking for Republican water to be carried, look no further than MDE.
And he came through. The brief meeting was in the early morning; Brodkorb had an anti-Ritchie post up by noon.
Brodkorb's not the bad guy here. Any blogger would have accepted this kind of access. But it's hard to imagine any other officeholder doing what Kiffmeyer did.
She claims she was protecting herself. "If someone walks out and mischaracterizes the meeting, then I would have the ability to make sure that it was clear and understandable."
Ritchie didn't have much of a chance to mischaracterize anything. Brodkorb started posting less than four hours after the meeting broke.
Kiffmeyer said she was "shocked" that Brodkorb was posting about the meeting: "If I had known that, I would have told him not to." But she wouldn't commit to asking him to relent from future posts.
If Kiffmeyer were really interested in a record of the meeting or in protecting her office, she could have invited a representative of the media, rather than the state's leading GOP attack blogger.
Kiffmeyer recalled that, during the campaign, Ritchie had charged "that I'm incompetent, my staff is incompetent, we're all just terrible," she said. "These kinds of comments ... do make a difference."
Fine. But right now, she's still on the state's dime, and the transition between administrations is important. If Kiffmeyer is miffed about the campaign, she can make crank calls to Ritchie when she's Private Citizen Kiffmeyer. In the meantime, she's Secretary of State Kiffmeyer, and, for a change, she might want to leave her politics at home.
Enough, already
Right Kiffmeyer...you invite a GOP blogger to a transition meeting and you expect MDE to not post anything about it? Come on Kiffmeyer? Are you really that naive? From a man with hundreds of posts pre-election...you expected him to not take a shot at Ritchie?
I agree, enough already. We'll remember the partisan nature she ran a non-partisan office of advocacy when Mark Olson is removed from his House seat in 16B and Kiffmeyer runs in the special election.
Bah Humbug...let the whining begin
It has been announced that the House DFL majority leader, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, appointed 4 GOPers to committee leadership positions throughout the House.
MinorityLeader Seifert, perhaps influenced by sour grapes from yet another drunken sailor, stated, "There's so many committees, maybe they ran out of DFLers,"
The burgeoning 38 committees, subcommittees and finance divisions, 11 more than in the old GOP-led House, may signal similar growth of government, said Seifert, R-Marshall.
He also noted that the Claims Committee, hardly a plum assignment, spends much of its time rejecting damage claims against the state. "Maybe that's why they put a Republican there," he said. "DFLers can't say no to anybody."
Seifert also complained about seats on the coveted Finance Committee.
One exception, Seifert said, is the makeup of the powerful Finance Committee, where the GOP will have 32.5 percent of the votes, compared with its 35.8 percent strength overall.
DFLers complained two years ago when then-House Speaker Steve Sviggum installed 58 percent Republican dominance on the Ways and Means Committee, even though GOP representatives made up less than 51 percent of the House.
Mark Olson also made the story, as he awaits a court date on domestic violence charges.
"It is an unusual development, especially with the GOP reduced to a weak minority of 48 -- just over one-third of the 134-member House -- by election losses and the expulsion from the caucus of Rep. Mark Olson of Big Lake, who is facing a domestic-abuse charge."
Former House Speaker Steve Sviggum showed played both sides of the aisle commending DFL leaders and then taking a bitter shot at the end.
"It wasn't done too often in the past," said Sviggum, a legislator since 1979. He called Kelliher's appointments "a very good gesture, considering the large majority they have."
Sviggum said the proof of the majority's bipartisan spirit will come at the end of the session, not the beginning.
"It really doesn't mean anything until you see the bills and the agenda as they come forward," said Sviggum, who will be the lead Republican on the Finance Committee. "We'll see how much they include us in the decisionmaking."
It will be fun to follow the quips of Seifert and Tom Emmer as the session begins in about 2 weeks!
MinorityLeader Seifert, perhaps influenced by sour grapes from yet another drunken sailor, stated, "There's so many committees, maybe they ran out of DFLers,"
The burgeoning 38 committees, subcommittees and finance divisions, 11 more than in the old GOP-led House, may signal similar growth of government, said Seifert, R-Marshall.
He also noted that the Claims Committee, hardly a plum assignment, spends much of its time rejecting damage claims against the state. "Maybe that's why they put a Republican there," he said. "DFLers can't say no to anybody."
Seifert also complained about seats on the coveted Finance Committee.
One exception, Seifert said, is the makeup of the powerful Finance Committee, where the GOP will have 32.5 percent of the votes, compared with its 35.8 percent strength overall.
DFLers complained two years ago when then-House Speaker Steve Sviggum installed 58 percent Republican dominance on the Ways and Means Committee, even though GOP representatives made up less than 51 percent of the House.
Mark Olson also made the story, as he awaits a court date on domestic violence charges.
"It is an unusual development, especially with the GOP reduced to a weak minority of 48 -- just over one-third of the 134-member House -- by election losses and the expulsion from the caucus of Rep. Mark Olson of Big Lake, who is facing a domestic-abuse charge."
Former House Speaker Steve Sviggum showed played both sides of the aisle commending DFL leaders and then taking a bitter shot at the end.
"It wasn't done too often in the past," said Sviggum, a legislator since 1979. He called Kelliher's appointments "a very good gesture, considering the large majority they have."
Sviggum said the proof of the majority's bipartisan spirit will come at the end of the session, not the beginning.
"It really doesn't mean anything until you see the bills and the agenda as they come forward," said Sviggum, who will be the lead Republican on the Finance Committee. "We'll see how much they include us in the decisionmaking."
It will be fun to follow the quips of Seifert and Tom Emmer as the session begins in about 2 weeks!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Minnesota Seed Company Fined
From the Strib.
Syngeta Seeds, a Minnesota Company, was fined $1.5 million for distributing genetically modifed corn seed.
It seems the seed would create corn laced with pesticide. It was stated that the pesticde is human safe and meant to repel rodents and insects.
Genetically Modified Foods may be a hidden danger. Large corporate seed companies are the biggest culprit.
More to follow on Genetically Modified Foods...
Syngeta Seeds, a Minnesota Company, was fined $1.5 million for distributing genetically modifed corn seed.
It seems the seed would create corn laced with pesticide. It was stated that the pesticde is human safe and meant to repel rodents and insects.
Genetically Modified Foods may be a hidden danger. Large corporate seed companies are the biggest culprit.
More to follow on Genetically Modified Foods...
Mr. Walz goes to Washington
I have had the pleasure of talking with Congressman Walz on multiple occassions. Many have said he is very "Wellstone" like. I'd have to agree. I met him at the 1st CD Conference in Mankato, held at MSU-M the same weekend as our final MSUSA conference of the year. We went up stairs to grab Senator Hottinger, who was our lunch speaker for the conference. I walked into the convention center and watched Walz...one of the most energetic and passionate speakers I have ever seen. He motivated me...
We found Senator Hottinger and went about our business. Since we were in Delegates Assembly, which I had no role in, myself and a few board members snuck up to the Convention. I introduced myself to the Congressman and we had some fun discussions on Army stuff.
About a month or so later, I ran into him again at the State Convention in Rochester. He called me by my name when he saw me. We had another fun chat...during the lull's of the Governor's endorsement.
Dori and I got to see him speak at the State Fair as well! His daughter Hope actually shoved him off the "stump" from which he was speaking on. It was rather comical...watching her hide behind the Congressman, only to then shove him off the "stump".
Anyway, the Strib had a great story today about his send-off! Enjoy!
Students send Mr. Walz off to Washington
With fanfare - and a folding chair - Mankato West students said goodbye to their new congressman, geography teacher Tim Walz.
By Rochelle Olson, Star Tribune
Last update: December 21, 2006 – 9:50 PM
Mankato West High School students helped elect their global geography teacher Mr. (Tim) Walz to Congress, and on Thursday they gathered in the school auditorium, told him they were proud of him and wished him luck.
Walz, a Democrat, unseated six-term U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht, a Republican, in one of the most surprising twists in the November election.
Walz smiled Thursday as he watched a brief movie a student made showing pictures of him campaigning, spliced with segments of the film classic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." The choir sang "Defying Gravity" from the musical "Wicked," including the line "My future is unlimited."
About 1,200 students filled the room and cooed for Walz's 2-month-old son, "No-Fuss" Gus, and applauded the nine-year teacher, a favorite who started every hour with 20 minutes of current events discussion and who never assigned homework. He has been on leave since April as he ran for office.
Walz's 4-year-old daughter, Hope, sitting next to his wife, Gwen, helpfully accepted the gifts he was given, including a scarlet Mankato West cap and folding chair. He will soon be given a custom-made school jersey with "Walz '06" on the back.
Walz is one of four freshmen from Minnesota who will be sworn in to Congress next month. He will represent southern Minnesota's First District.
State Rep. Keith Ellison, also a Democrat, was elected to represent the Fifth District, including Minneapolis and inner-ring suburbs. State Sen. Michele Bachmann, a Republican, will represent the Sixth District, which includes northern suburbs through St. Cloud. Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, will be the state's junior senator.
Ellison will celebrate his departure from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Operating Engineers Local 49 Union Hall, 2829 Anthony Lane S., St. Anthony. Bachmann did not have plans for a send-off.
Klobuchar plans a low-key send-off from her Marcy-Holmes neighborhood in Minneapolis, where the family will pack up the car Wednesday morning, she said. From there, they will head to Rochester for a noon lunch at Daube's before sleeping for a night in a friend's basement in Chicago.
"Hopefully, we don't encounter blizzards," Klobuchar said. "Over half the senators are multimillionaires. I'm sure I will be the only one arriving in the family Saturn."
'We did it'
From the Mankato West stage, Walz told his students that their optimism shaped his vision. "The crazy, ridiculous part of this is we did it," he said.
He echoed a line from the Mr. Smith movie: "I will do nothing to shame this institution."
When the ceremony was over, a couple of dozen students -- many wearing gold and blue campaign T-shirts -- crowded around Walz.
"Everybody, keep us in mind. We're going to have lots of places for interns," Walz said.
Kelsey Bigbee had Walz as a teacher and, like other students, gave up free time to work on his campaign. "Right off the bat, I knew I was going to like him. He's just a fun guy. He's easy to get along with," she said.
Meeting Karl Rove
Walz told stories from a recent White House luncheon, including an introduction to Karl Rove, the president's political guru. "He gets demonized, but he's very outgoing. He's short, not a big guy.
"He's very funny. He's incredibly smart. He knew exactly how many votes we got," Walz said.
Walz talked about the "surreal" realization that he will be able to cast a vote for a plan to increase the minimum wage. Said senior Kim Braun: "Oh my God, I'm going to have so much money."
Walz talked about adjusting to his newfound clout; his recent comments that the undervaluation of China's currency is the "worst-kept secret in the world" became an international news story. "We can do something about it," he said.
Adriane Otopalik, who made the Walz movie, said, "You thought that stuff before."
Walz added, "No one cared." He told students he'd give them guided tours of Capitol tunnels if they visit. "Hopefully, I'll be there more than two years," he said.
To which senior Kristina Dundas said, "We'll help with that."
We found Senator Hottinger and went about our business. Since we were in Delegates Assembly, which I had no role in, myself and a few board members snuck up to the Convention. I introduced myself to the Congressman and we had some fun discussions on Army stuff.
About a month or so later, I ran into him again at the State Convention in Rochester. He called me by my name when he saw me. We had another fun chat...during the lull's of the Governor's endorsement.
Dori and I got to see him speak at the State Fair as well! His daughter Hope actually shoved him off the "stump" from which he was speaking on. It was rather comical...watching her hide behind the Congressman, only to then shove him off the "stump".
Anyway, the Strib had a great story today about his send-off! Enjoy!
Students send Mr. Walz off to Washington
With fanfare - and a folding chair - Mankato West students said goodbye to their new congressman, geography teacher Tim Walz.
By Rochelle Olson, Star Tribune
Last update: December 21, 2006 – 9:50 PM
Mankato West High School students helped elect their global geography teacher Mr. (Tim) Walz to Congress, and on Thursday they gathered in the school auditorium, told him they were proud of him and wished him luck.
Walz, a Democrat, unseated six-term U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht, a Republican, in one of the most surprising twists in the November election.
Walz smiled Thursday as he watched a brief movie a student made showing pictures of him campaigning, spliced with segments of the film classic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." The choir sang "Defying Gravity" from the musical "Wicked," including the line "My future is unlimited."
About 1,200 students filled the room and cooed for Walz's 2-month-old son, "No-Fuss" Gus, and applauded the nine-year teacher, a favorite who started every hour with 20 minutes of current events discussion and who never assigned homework. He has been on leave since April as he ran for office.
Walz's 4-year-old daughter, Hope, sitting next to his wife, Gwen, helpfully accepted the gifts he was given, including a scarlet Mankato West cap and folding chair. He will soon be given a custom-made school jersey with "Walz '06" on the back.
Walz is one of four freshmen from Minnesota who will be sworn in to Congress next month. He will represent southern Minnesota's First District.
State Rep. Keith Ellison, also a Democrat, was elected to represent the Fifth District, including Minneapolis and inner-ring suburbs. State Sen. Michele Bachmann, a Republican, will represent the Sixth District, which includes northern suburbs through St. Cloud. Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, will be the state's junior senator.
Ellison will celebrate his departure from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Operating Engineers Local 49 Union Hall, 2829 Anthony Lane S., St. Anthony. Bachmann did not have plans for a send-off.
Klobuchar plans a low-key send-off from her Marcy-Holmes neighborhood in Minneapolis, where the family will pack up the car Wednesday morning, she said. From there, they will head to Rochester for a noon lunch at Daube's before sleeping for a night in a friend's basement in Chicago.
"Hopefully, we don't encounter blizzards," Klobuchar said. "Over half the senators are multimillionaires. I'm sure I will be the only one arriving in the family Saturn."
'We did it'
From the Mankato West stage, Walz told his students that their optimism shaped his vision. "The crazy, ridiculous part of this is we did it," he said.
He echoed a line from the Mr. Smith movie: "I will do nothing to shame this institution."
When the ceremony was over, a couple of dozen students -- many wearing gold and blue campaign T-shirts -- crowded around Walz.
"Everybody, keep us in mind. We're going to have lots of places for interns," Walz said.
Kelsey Bigbee had Walz as a teacher and, like other students, gave up free time to work on his campaign. "Right off the bat, I knew I was going to like him. He's just a fun guy. He's easy to get along with," she said.
Meeting Karl Rove
Walz told stories from a recent White House luncheon, including an introduction to Karl Rove, the president's political guru. "He gets demonized, but he's very outgoing. He's short, not a big guy.
"He's very funny. He's incredibly smart. He knew exactly how many votes we got," Walz said.
Walz talked about the "surreal" realization that he will be able to cast a vote for a plan to increase the minimum wage. Said senior Kim Braun: "Oh my God, I'm going to have so much money."
Walz talked about adjusting to his newfound clout; his recent comments that the undervaluation of China's currency is the "worst-kept secret in the world" became an international news story. "We can do something about it," he said.
Adriane Otopalik, who made the Walz movie, said, "You thought that stuff before."
Walz added, "No one cared." He told students he'd give them guided tours of Capitol tunnels if they visit. "Hopefully, I'll be there more than two years," he said.
To which senior Kristina Dundas said, "We'll help with that."
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