Shimanski on Budget Forums

I sure wish they had held one of these in our Senate District, Willmar and St Cloud are a bit far for me to drive during the work week.

Our State Rep on the other side of the district, Rep Ron Shimanski, had this to say about the Willmar forum.

Meanwhile, the House-Senate listening session in Willmar Thursday night was well attended by an estimated 250 people. The issues they raised revolved around the state budget, spending programs and taxes and the results were close to what we expected.

We have a state deficit which could be approaching $7 billion by the time we receive the end of February forecast, so a lot of people used the event as an opportunity to explain why the group they represent should be spared from potential budget cuts. Other people talked about the need to slow the rise of state spending; it has increased 140 percent since 1992; or hold off tax increases. There were no truly innovative ways presented to either reduce state spending or increase revenue.

The West Central Tribune covered the same budget forum.

Some public employees asked for a fairly drawn tax increase to maintain programs that serve vulnerable people.

Others said that no tax increase was acceptable, and that across-the-board budget cuts would be a better solution.

County and school officials asked for relief from mandates — requirements the state hands down without providing the money to carry them out.

State employee's chimed in, talking about the importance of their work.

In the words of Christie Kurth, executive director of the Willmar Area Food Shelf, “We’re all here asking you not to cut us any more than you have to.”

Several state employees who provide services to mentally ill and developmentally disabled people asked that those programs be spared from budget cuts. If basic services are not available for the people who are living on their own in communities, they said, the cost of their care could be much higher in the long run.

Frank Lawatsch, administrator at Swift County-Benson Hospital said the hospital has already seen its bad debts increase.

“More and more people can’t pay their medical bills,” he said, and a proposal to remove 84,000 adults from state insurance programs will make the problem worse. People without insurance often seek care at emergency rooms, where the costs are much higher than at clinics, he said.

Public defenders, prosecutors and judges told the legislators stories about the problems created in the judicial system by cuts made in the past few years.

Glen Jacobson, a Renville County attorney, told a story about a woman whose felony conviction was overturned because she was denied her constitutional right to a speedy trial. The trial had been delayed repeatedly in an overworked system, he said.

If more cuts are made, “you will be killing the rule of law as we know it in Minnesota,” he said.

I love the idea of townhall meetings. I don't like the perception that these meetings will offer the magic bullet solution to our budget woes.

Although I believe that Governor Pawlenty's proposal is insufficient, I'd like to see the proposal from my fellow Democrats.

I had lunch with a friend of mine that ran for the House this past year. We both had some interesting thoughts on Senator Pogemiller's response to free Senate hiring and announce that pay cuts could be voluntary.

Please...

Voluntary? What a sacrifice!

When my pay was cut, the only voluntary act was to stay employed.

Like I've said in previous posts, cut the per diem and other perks.

Impose term limits so that we can rid our hallowed chambers of stagnant ideas that didn't work 20 years ago and won't work now.

The frustration level amongst run of the mill citizen is immense.

I'd like to see a real proposal soon...and no more rhetoric.

Shimanski on LGA

Senator Dille and Representative Shimanski were in Glencoe recently discussing cuts to Local Government Aid and state mandates.

A participant asked Shimanski if local governments should plan on the eventual elimination of local government aid (LGA) to cities, counties and townships.

"As long as Tim Pawlenty is governor, it will be a target," said Shimanski. Shimanski said he recently saw a spreadsheet of cuts proposed by the governor that included a 5 percent to 10 percent reduction in LGA each year.

However, Shimanski said, the Legislature currently has a Democratic majority, and the governor's proposals will be "balanced" by counter-proposals by the Legislature, so there will likely be cuts in LGA, but the program will probably not be eliminated altogether.

Let's remember that the vast majority of these small towns in Dille and Shimanski's district voted for Governor Pawlenty and love the "no new taxes" pledges.

However they fail to realize that Pawlenty and Shimanski's cuts to LGA actually result in property tax and other fee increases, in order to fill the void left by LGA cuts.

So Shimanski's message to small town Minnesota?

Get rid of Pawlenty.

And at last...we agree on something!

The Ticket Is Complete

SD 19 has had endorsed candidates for quite some time now.

Jim Bakula is challenging Bruce Anderson in 19A and is off to a rousing start.

Chris Brazelton is running hard against Tom Emmer again in 19B.

With last nights endorsement of Eric Angvall in 18A and Dr. David Detert in 18B, the ticket for our area is complete.

Angvall v. Shimanski will be an interesting race. Shimanski has shown zero ability to advocate for the interests of his district, siding with an extreme partisan agenda, which earned him a 100% rating from the Taxpayers League.

Dr. David Detert is back for his third run at Dean Urdahl. Urdahl won by a wide margin in 2004 and Detert closed this gap significantly in 2006. With Urdahl's ineffectiveness at the capitol, combined with a strong year for Democrats, Detert stands poised to defeat Urdahl in 2008.

Coverage at Blueman will now shift into working to promote the great candidates we have in Wright, Meeker, and McLeod Counties.

We're poised to have a great year in the coming elections. It sure would be nice running for State Senate in 2010 with two DFL House Reps in the district!

Angvall Endorsed in 18A!

One of the joys of running political races is the opportunity to meet neat people. Nolan, Nichole and I made our first trek to Lester Prairire shortly after I was endorsed to run against Steve Dille. The first store we went into was the hardware store. My grandpa worked in hardware stores in Mayville for decades after he was retired. He loved telling the stories and getting peoples problems solved.

That was the conversation Eric Angvall and his wife had with me when we entered their store.

A moderate, commonsense candidate will go far against Right wing flamer thrower Ron Shimanski. Shimanski, a first term Rep from Silver Lake, has held to a very ultra conservative voting record, a 100 rating by the Tax Enforcers League is a badge of honor for some, but shows no courage in solving budget and tax problems.

Shimanski also earned a 0 rating from the Children's Defense Fund. Urdahl was not much better topping out at a 33.

Angvall has a shot here. Despite a late start, as former mayor of Lester Prairie he understands the impact of no new taxes and cuts to LGA. He sees firsthand how crap rolls downhill.

As a small business owner, he can speak effectively on what government can do to ensure that our small businesses grow and prosper.

As a former Biology teacher, he gets whats wrong in our schools and will strive to fix them, not sit on a party label and hurl rhetoric back and forth.

Shimanski is in some trouble here. It will be an interesting race! We'll report more later!

Shimanski praises survey, DFL objects

Ah, McLeod Chronicle letter day!

Rep Ron Shimanski writes about his survey. "Survey painted clear picture".

Really? I'd say it painted a tainted picture because of the biased survey.

Respondents replied at an overwhelming 88 percent rate they prefer a health care system that includes things like freedom and choice, privacy and security, and no government take-over.

Gaining only 12 percent of your support is a health care model that includes higher taxes and potential care rationing in a single-payer model.

With such biased questions, I'm surprised 12% of the people read through the rhetoric.

You can distort the situation pretty easily by asking the question in a biased manner.

Ask 50 3rd graders if they want to spend a cold winter holiday all dressed up with their sister or if they would rather have a day off from school in February, to go sledding.

The majority would select sledding.

Add Christmas and Martin Luther King Jr Day to each of those situations, the response will change markedly.

Shimanski's survey was biased.

McLeod County DFL Chair, John Hassinger responds.

A recent questionnaire mailed and put in the area Shopper by State Rep. Ron Shimanski, R-Silver Lake, asked for people to respond to a series of questions about health care, taxes, transportation, etc.

Attempts to gain citizen input are important; asking leading questions to get the answers you want is not fair and does not allow a full range of opinions.

An open, fair discussion of issues is vital to our democracy, leading questionnaires don't get us there. Rep. Shimanski, you can do better.

Additionally, we would be interested in how much taxpayer money was used to create, print, distribute and tabulate the results?

We'll anxiously await Shimanski's response telling us the survey was not biased...

Fisking the Rep Shimanski survey

State Representative for 18A, Ron Shimanski, recently sent out a Legislative Questionnaire.

In an email I received a few weeks ago, he provides a sample of the results thus far and encourages those that want to participate, to call or email him to obtain a survey.

Question 1. Which system of health care reform do you prefer?

A. I'd like to see a health care system that allow freedom and choice, privacy and security, and no government take-over.

B. I am willing to pay higher taxes and face potential care rationing so the government can provide single payer health coverage to all Minnesotans, regardless of income.

Shimanski provides early numbers on what people think:

Respondents replied at an overwhelming 88 percent rate they prefer a health care system that includes things like freedom and choice, privacy and security, and no government take-over. Gaining only 12 percent of your support is a health care model that includes higher taxes and potential care rationing in a single-payer model.

Could these questions have been worse? Seriously?

With the questions worded so poorly, so politically loaded, it's amazing 12% supported a single payer model.

50 kids at a local elementary school recently took part in an informal survey (aka, a show of hands).

They were posed the question, which would you prefer?

A. A holiday from school so that they can go sledding and watch Sponge Bob.

B. A holiday from school in which you have to spend the whole day with you little brother or sister, dressed up!

100% of students wanted to watch Sponge Bob and go sledding.

The next day, they were posed with the nearly the same question, just worded a bit different.

What is your favorite holiday?

A. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

B. Christmas.

In a complete reversal, 100% of the students said Christmas as their favorite holiday. Note, each question talks about the same holiday, they are just presented differently.

That's the problem with Rep Shimanski's Legislative Questionnaire. It's a politically loaded questionnaire.

His question about health care feeds on fear mongering. He continues his fear mongering with the final question on his survey.

"Should Minnesotans be required to provide photo identification in order to vote?"

Area constituents also show strong support for voter protection,indicating at an 84-percent rate photo ID should be a requirement to vote. This would be effective in preventing voter fraud on election day and make it easier for election officials certify fair elections.

Shimanski and his colleagues, are creating a problem where no such problem exists.

The Voter ID requirement is troublesome for many reasons. It creates a backdoor poll tax. If you can't afford the $25 for a State of MN ID, you would not be able to vote.

In 1964, Congress ratified the 24th Amendment which banned poll taxes. A photo ID is just another hurdle for potential voters to jump over. Ultimately, it disenfranchises hundreds of thousands of voters, particularly low-income, communities of color, senior citizens, women and young people.

It would also appear that Shimanski will use "smokers" as a constituency group this coming fall. At the bottom of his survey, he lists several boxes for people to check. A constituent ID.

Veteran/Active Military, Parent, Teacher/ Student, Smoker, Hunter/ Angler, Senior Adult, Business Owner, Pro-life.

Why did Shimanski feel the need to post the preliminary results and ask for more surveys? Any statistical validity is called into question by releasing this info then calling for more surveys. We've already discussed the poorly worded questions...

It's important for our elected officials to know what's in the minds of their constituents (hear that Congresswoman Bachmann?). However, with such politically loaded, rhetoric filled questionnaires, Shimanski is getting the constituents to tell him what he wants them to hear, so he can remain in St Paul and not advocate for the people of 18A.

Urdahl and Shimanski called out for Transportation vote

West Central Tribune's Op-ed section praised some local legislators, including Senator Steve Dille for his vote to support Transportation in Minnesota.

Dean Urdahl and Ron Shimanski were two Representatives that drew their ire for their lackluster support for Transportation.

It is shameful that these lawmakers talk on their campaigns about the importance of transportation to west central Minnesota and then stick their head in the sand when a key vote comes up.

Minnesota has not made a significant transportation investment for two decades — except to borrow funding by bonding which requires future repayment.

Where do Urdahl and Gimse expect to generate funding for U.S. Highway 12 upgrades?

Indeed, they spend a lot of time talking about what they want to do, but do nothing to support Transportation solutions. The Urdahl case is more shocking than Shimanski. Shimanski has been at the end of the Seifert / Emmer leash since his 06 election.

Urdahl is different. He has stated openly he would support a gas tax increase. He voted for it last May. Only after Governor Pawlenty called him to the carpet did Urdahl suddenly not support a gas tax increase and Transportation.

His vote Thursday in support of Governor Pawlenty's "Red Pen Plan" shows his allegiance to the Governor, while pushing his constituents "under the bus".

We call on Reps. Urdahl, Shimanski, Seifert, and Westrom and Sen. Gimse and Fischbach to put west central Minnesota first before the politics of their party. We ask for their vote as well to override Pawlenty’s political veto on this bill.

Urdahl and Shimanski putting the people before politics? We'll see again as the veto override comes soon.

Top 7 story lines in 2007

So much to sort through and consider. In coming up with the order of importance, we weighed the amount of traffic and the number of stories that were cross posted or linked elsewhere.

Lots of great stories were left off the final list. Some of them include the per diem follies of Randy Demmer and our other fiscal conservatives, school levies passing in Dassel Cokato and Glencoe Silver Lake, the statewide smoking ban, and other legislative endeavors.

Mark Olson was even spared from the Top 7, but to be fair, we could just do a Top 7 for him alone!

Beyond becoming engaged to Bluewoman in Washington DC, with a 11/8/08 wedding date, here are the Top 7 Blueman story lines for 2007. I'm looking forward to a stronger 8 in 08!

7. Urdahl and Shimanski Townhall Forum. For someone who paints himself as a "moderate" one would have to ask why they hang out with such extreme company.

While the forum itself, billed as a townhall forum and appeared to be a rally, was interesting, the festivities afterwards were even better.

Toe to toe with Dean Urdahl was an awful lot of fun, interesting too. We discussed Rep Urdahl's flip flop of the Transportation vote.

Apparently, Urdahl's vote to sustain the Governor's Transportation veto had nothing to do with transportation. As a scholar of government, I ought to know that. Urdahl said quite a bit tonight, not going to lie...but apparently neither myself nor his wife understands what he does.

Bottomline, he flip flopped. Said he'd support a gas tax increase in October 2006, voted for it in the original bill, and flopped after the Governor called him to the carpet.

Despite this forum and run in, it only makes #7 on the list.

6. MinnCan pipeline. Nice to see the MinnCann pipeline taking shape just outside of Cokato (between the high school and the golf course). While the story remained on the periphery of Minnesota news in 07, the pipelines garnered a lot more attention after the accident at Clearbrook.

We'll get photos up after the New Year!

5. Elwyn Tinklenberg's resistance to abide by the DFL endorsement. As a Local Unit DFL official, I have sworn to support DFL endorsed candidates. Does it bother anyone else that when asked about the endorsement, Tinklenberg cannot give a straight answer?

At the November 15th forum at St Cloud State University, Tinklenberg stated his intentions on the endorsement. From the SC Times.

The DFL race would appear to be up to party delegates to decide, as Tinklenberg, who had avoided saying he would abide by the party's endorsement process earlier, appeared to commit Thursday.

"I supported the party's endorsed candidate before," he said of his 2006 endorsement loss to Patty Wetterling. "I will certainly do that again."

Olson reiterated his previous commitment to abide by the endorsement process.

Yet, on December 13th at the SD 19 DFL meeting in Buffalo, Elwyn had this to say about the endorsement.

"We will honor the endorsement if it is an honorable and straight forward process."

Which left many potential delegates asking the question, "What, what does that mean?"

Elwyn came back with "We will honor the endorsement if it is an honorable and fair process."

Call me naive, but it sounds to me like someone who's prepping for a primary!

4. Dean Urdahl flip flops on Transportation. While admitting that Governor Pawlenty's Transportation plan underfunded roads in Greater Minnesota, Urdahl put politics before the people. Whats even more shameful of this vote was that Urdahl told County Commissioners that he would support a gas tax increase, during the 06 campaign cycle.

I expect more antics from Rep Urdahl now that he's in the minority. Let me guess, he'll work to address school funding reforms he did little about when he was in the majority.

3. Michele Bachmann. Dump Bachmann will do this more justice, but just off hand...

Groping the President, votes against working and middle class Minnesotan's, her Iran quotes, and a slew of other stories.

2. Luke Hellier and the MnSCU Board of Trustee's. I drew the ire of righty bloggers and radio talk show hosts for this one, and we were dead on. The issue is still closely followed by the statewide student associations. MSUSA, the 4 year student association, is anxiously awaiting their replacement to the MnSCU Board, a mere 6 months late now. It's much worse for MSCSA, the 2 year student association. Their student representative has served 18 months past the end of her initial appointment, without replacement.

Meanwhile, Governor Pawlenty spends his time pimping John McCain.

1. Walter Reed Scandal / Veterans Suicide. Support Our Troops, Liberate Iraq was the slogan on the lawnsign. Too bad it never carried over to when our brave men and women came home.

Being treated in despicable conditions at Walter Reed and other military and VA hospitals across the US, it took a Washington Post story to break this scandal wide open. Miles from the concrete palace our President resides in, our soldiers and Veterans were second class citizens.

Suicide rates of veterans also rose and remain more than double of "normal" society. Minnesota has lost no less than 16 Iraq or Afghanistan Veterans under the age of 30, since 2005.

It's a story that should be number 1 in more places than just Blueman and will remain a focal point of my blog.

Ron Shimanski sends heartfelt constituent email...over his listserv

Wow.

I cannot believe what I just read.

State Rep Ron Shimanski, R-Silver Lake has a email update he sends out to constituents. Typically I do not read them, as Rep Shimanski tends to do the whole "blame the Democrats" and "tax and spend" dance in virtually every edition.

This one came with a different look, so I checked it out.

I was astonished at what I read. A constituent wrote Rep Shimanski about some issues within the district. I will not divulge the contents of the letter, other than to say that I am deeply disturbed that a State Representative could make a mistake in releasing private information of this proportion.

Sick...just sick.

Live from Hutchinson: Urdahl / Shimanski townhall meeting

Update: Per a request from my former campaign manager...I put the blog post from start to finish. When I liveblogged it, I posted the most recent actions at the beginning.

Your welcome Nolan...

Live from the Ridgewater College Commons area in Hutchinson. FYI, we have video of this event too!

Special thanks to Ollie for allowing me to use her Aircard to blog the event, and not utilize state resources for political purposes...

Sure are a lot of Republican's here. Good Democrats like Kevin Johnson and John Hassinger are here though!

Format for the townhall meeting.
Intro from Urdahl and Shimanski
Introduction of the panel, 5 minutes per panel member
Q&A with audiences and Representatives 10 minutes per issue.

Dean says hi...hoping this thing will start soon.

Scott Newman's here, looks like he does not like me liveblogging the event.

7:03 Rep Seifert is here along with Tom Emmer, Dean Urdahl, Ron Shimanski and Michael Barrett.

7:08 Rep Shimanski introduces panel.

7:10 Rep. Urdahl is discussing rural development, education, transportation, health care and other issues and the disparity in funding between metro and Greater Minnesota areas. Marty Seifert is talking to the crowd, doesn't say too much, introduces Mike Boehme, Dean at Ridgewater College.

7:15 Discussion of the importance of Ridgewater in the area, providing seamless service to both the business industry and from the local high schools.

Ridgewater Dean talked about importance of funding higher education and keeping tuition affordable.

7:18 Jack Geller from the Minnesota Center for Rural Economic Policy is discussing the differences within Greater Minnesota. Talks regional economies versus community economies. Talks about the need for small business development in rural Minnesota, working in conjunction with higher education opportunities.

7:24 Mark Loftus, Department of Employment and Economic Development, talking about the SEED program. Governor Pawlenty's plan sounds a lot like MN 2020's plan for small business development. Hmmmm

7:29 Bill Ward, Dassel Lakeside Nursing Home speaks about the impact of nursing homes have on the small community economy. In most towns, the nursing homes are the largest employers. His challenge: You cannot recruit more nursing homes and when a community loses one, it will never come back. Talks about ads for education shortfalls and nothing for the nursing homes. The stat, nursing home funding is $25 less than the actual cost of care.

Urdhal is talking reimbursement rate disparties for the nursing homes. They fund through historical trends, which causes McLeod and Meeker Counties to receive less. He says Seifert, Emmer, Shimanski and himself are working on this...

7:51 Connie Leis, City Council Member from Litchfield. Lithcfield was the dryest place in the state in 2007. LGA cuts eliminated tree program, the draught stricken trees stand diseased because they cannot afford to cut them down, at $3,000 per tree. City running at a break even, cannot create development.

Fire Hall stores some equipment outside of city limits? 1900 Fire Hall should be condemned!

Explains the problems small cities face, no one claps...I think Republican's hate LGA.

Urdahl: Cities face challenges and I hope we can do something about it next session.

7:38 Dave Johnson, MnDOT. Talks about the challenges in MnDOT now. Gave props to the Transportation Commissioner.

Funding has eroded. Area 8, Willmar was receiving 6% of states funding, now down to 5.4%.

Editorial note: Urdahl voted against the Gas Tax.

7:42 Siefert and Emmer are now on stage, Glenn Gruenhagen, Glencoe is asking about Light Rail. McLeod GOP Chair and Scott Newman are chuckling about this.

Calls light rail a big "boondoggle".

MnDOT answer, road building is not a feasible option for the congestion problem in the metro area.

Urdahl responds: Expense of transit is in question, need to explore possiblities of rail but maybe not the direction we are headed now. Efficiency and cost is problematic.

Greunhagen: Companies like 3M are looking at moving out of Minnesota because of light rail, lower tax rates and allow companies to compete globally.

Glencoe man question: Why did MnDOT take the high bid on the 35W bridge?

MnDOT: They use a combo of bid price and skill. They do it on all specialty contracts.

Seifert: It's flawed policy. Criteria such as asthetics and public relations are in the "best value law". Move back to "lowest responsible bidder" laws. We'll have to fight unions!

7:56 College Small Business Management program instructor pleads for support for SEED program, which is strikingly similar to the MN 2020 proposal.

8:00 Dean Mahlstadt, from Cokato talks about Cokato creating a 7 member Ecomomic Development Commitee. He's not happy he has to compete. Complains that government seems to be geared towards single mothers, welfare families, and the such.

Where is the hope for his family who has been in the Cokato area before it was Cokato. What is the hope for his 6 kids...

Emmer: Thank you. I call what Geller called, redistrubtuion of income. We need to work together to ensure that Minnesota is not the largest employer in Minnesota, but get back to 3M and other large businesses being the largest employer.

8:08 Republican House Tax man is speaking: Government is the largest employer.
Urdahl: $5 billion in tax raises proposed. Veto's and the Republican House Caucus held the line. The mood is to not raise taxes. Raise someone elses taxes but not mine. $7800 per person in taxes, are we getting are money's worth? No one raises their hand...I'm blogging.

Seifert: Governor was right in vetoing, media and willing allies call it shameful. It was shameful that it was ever passed. It's bout keeping Government in check. State of Minnesota is the 4th largest land owner in Minnesota.

1972, largest employers were 3M, Daytons, etc.
2007: State of Minnesota, U of M, Federal government

Government has too much of our money. People create jobs, not government. Government's at all levels need to reign in spending.

Shimanski: Adequate transportation funding? A lot more than a 5 cent gas tax increase.
Top tier of income, more than $250,000. Will run their buisness with wireless phone and internet and live outside of Minnesota for more than 6 months.

Can't strangle the golden goose. Can't steal the golden eggs.

Connie Leis: Tax fast food? Smoke less, drink less, eat more.

John Hassinger: Criteria for a Return on Investment in the State. We work so hard in the State Park system, suddenly, one shows up in Lake Vermillion?

Urdahl: Where do I begin? He's been working on Greenleaf. 4 branches of Government, Legislative, Judicial, Executive, and the DNR.

8:19 Tom Emmer just told me to make sure the photo of Shimanski I just took does not get tampered with. Avidor, you there?

8:28: Russ Goldstein: We don't wanna raise taxes. State uses law enforcement stings to ensure that underage people are not allowed to buy.

We have welfare benefits, WIC benefits, etc. Do we ever do stings to ensure that illegal aliens have not come to Minnesota for benefits? Many of the checks and dollars go to people who do not need them. Send in enforcement agents and fine the agency $300 and the seller $300 each.

Urdahl: Senator Gimse has announced he will bring forth a bill to do most of that.

Greunhagen: Prevailing wages laws should be struck down. Open up the process and repeal the prevailing wages laws. It makes our businesses and school more expensive. Workman's Comp rates are too high.

Urdahl: JOBZ had to be cancelled at a Litchfield business because the prevailing wages would have driven up their costs by $400,ooo. We could not do it when we were in the majority...it's much tougher now that we are in the minority.

8:35: Healthcare Constitutional Amendment for Health Care? Kelliher has the same sense of clock management as Denny Green. Healthcare dude thinks he's funny...

Minnesota has been first 6 of the last 8 years. 93% of Minnesotan's have health care coverage.

Seifert: Welfare people moving to Minnesota to take advantage of our benefits. 7 working groups under the current regime, over 20 meetings between now and Halloween.

He is not taking per diem tonight.

*Editors note: Marty must read Blueman!

Crushing health care costs: Marty's plan

1. Monopolistic Control: 4 non-profits provide 80% of the HMO insurance. Open up competition, prices go down.

2. More mandates on private health care. Allow for cafeteria plans.

3. MN Care tax repealed.

4. Reform welfare system. 4-6,000 people move to the state every year to take advantage of Minnesota's benefits. EFC cards: You can take them to an ATM and get cash for the casino, 6 pack of beer and smokes.

5. Reform torts. Avg cost of malpractice is $100,000-200,000 per doctor. $11-1200 per baby pays for the malpractice insurance. Trial lawyer lobby...take on the Army of Lobbyists, the Welfare Rights people, trial lawyers. Rise up...

6. Pass tax credits to get Government out of Health care and allow the people to choose your doctor and hospital.

Crowd: It's perfect! HHS and illegals. Is it legal to get health care for illegals?

Seifert: For neo-natal care only.

8:59: GOP Tax guy: Gas Tax would only pay for the equivalent of a 35W bridge. Supports bonding for bridges.

Education taxes: Complex formula that provides the metro area more money than rural areas. All children are created equal until the legislature acts.

Seifert: More money is needed for roads and bridges. Should we take 1/2 of the bonding bill and put towards roads and bridges? How does that compare to the gas tax? Bigger better, more efficient.

Take MVST money and do trunk highway bonding, pay for state road expansions with that. Stillwater Bridge should have been done 15 years ago! Seifert wants to bond for bills.

First two tax increases: Gas tax, constitutional amendment for arts crafts, etc. They'll hurt average Joe by the DFL more.

9:06: Urdahl is on the bonding committee. He got cookies at each project. $4 billion requested in bonding bill, wants money in roads bridges and water infrastructure.

Question from the audience. Is $500 million really enough? We have a $1.8 billion shortfall on Transportation funding in the state, annually. In order to be a world class economy, we must have a highly efficient transportation system.

Urdahl: $500 million is only one component. Final package uncertain. Strong believer in local government, get money to counties and townships. Work in a bipartisan manner to get some money to rural Minnesota.

9:15: Gruenhagen: Cut government employee's wages and benefits and do this together. Pay additional taxes if government employee's take a cut.

9:25: Republican Guy, I think he's the SD 18 GOP Chair and a Local 49er are aguing about transportation funding...

Seifert abruptly ends the forum that is now 25 minutes past its close and missing the discussion on education.

Townhall meeting in Hutchinson tonight

There will be a town hall meeting Tuesday evening October 16th from 7-9:00 PM in the commons area of the Hutchinson Campus hosted by local legislators Rep. Ron Shimanski, Rep. Dean Urdahl, Minority Leader Marty Seifert and other legislators to hear from citizens about important issues in rural Minnesota. The public is welcome to attend.

I will be in attendance...and may try to liveblog the event.

How much did your "fiscal conservative" haul in? Part II

A deeper look into the numbers provided by the SC Times.

The Minnesota Legislature was in session from January 3 to May 21, 2007, a total of 139 days, 75 of which were legislative days.

Early in the session, Rep Marty Seifert took a shot at Democrats saying we "spend money like drunken sailors".

Here's a closer look at what our local "fiscal conservatives" got for per diem.

In the House, you can get $77 a day for per diem. The Senate rate is $96.

Bruce Anderson, took $10,472 in Session per diem, or took it on 136 of 139 session days. $6,230 in lodging expenses.

Laura Brod (not local but a strong fiscal conservative) took per diem on 102 of 139 session days and nothing in lodging expenses.

Tom Emmer took per diem on 119 of 139 session days and nothing in lodging expenses.

Sondra Erickson took took per diem on all 139 session days (including weekends and holidays) and $8,714 in lodging expenses.

Steve Gottwalt took per diem on 119 of 139 session days and $5580 in lodging expenses.

Mark Olson took per diem on 119 of 139 session days and $6716 in lodging expenses.

Joyce Peppin took per diem on about 117 of 139 session days and nothing in lodging expenses.

Marty Seifert took per diem on all 139 days of session and over $7600 in lodging expenses. Wow, talk about spending like a "drunken sailor"!

Dan Severson took per diem on 119 of 139 session days and $11,802 in lodging expenses.

Ron Shimanski took per diem on 119 of 139 session days and $4020 in lodging expenses.

Dean Urdahl took per diem on 135 of 139 session days and $5621 in lodging expenses.

On the Senate side...

Steve Dille took per diem on all 139 session days and $7325 in lodging expenses.

Michele Fischbach took per diem on all 139 session days and $10,176 in lodging expenses.

Joe Gimse took per diem on all 139 session days and $8487 in lodging expenses.

Bill Ingebrigtsen took per diem on 110 of 139 session days and $9586 in lodging expenses.

Mike Jungbauer took per diem on all 139 session days but nothing in lodging expenses.

Amy Koch took per diem on 119 of 139 session days and $8954 in lodging expenses.

Betsy Wergin took per diem on all 139 session days and $8535 in lodging expenses.

It's pretty interesting once you dig a bit deeper into the numbers. Most of these fiscally conservative legislators took per diem on weekends and on holidays. They also spared no expense for lodging as well.

It sure is nice that they are fiscally conservative on education and veterans benefits but rake in the big bucks on weekends and holidays at tax payers expense.

I wonder how many of these elected leaders will remain "friends of the tax payer".

Hey Marty, that's 3 bottles of Crown Royal a day! Holy drunken sailor Marty!

Thanks Ollie for the tip!

How much did your "fiscal conservative" haul in?

The SC Times has a great piece up today about how much in per diem and other forms of compensation legislators can take home.

Note I was strongly opposed to the Senate raising the per diem rate.

So, how did our local "fiscal conservatives" do?

Rep Sondra Erickson $24,521
Rep Mark Olson $19,414
Rep Bruce Anderson $20,402
Rep Tom Emmer $11,711
Rep Ron Shimanski $17,135
Rep Dean Urdahl $19,971
Rep Dan Severson $25,126
Rep Laura Brod $10,256
Senator Steve Dille $24,694
Senator Amy Koch $22,172
Senator Betsy Wergin $24,158
Senator Michelle Fischbach $27,162
Senator Joe Gimse $27,801
Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen $30,619

And two of our favorite conservatives..."Friend's of the Taxpayer"...
Rep Randy Demmer $23,627
Rep Marty Seifert $28,038

All that from "fiscal conservatives"! At least Emmer and Brod held true to their "fiscal conservative" values, the others, including Dean Urdahl, Marty Seifert, Randy Demmer, and Amy Koch, sold out for a few more bucks a day.

A few observations as the Special Election looms...

H/T to Bluestem Prairie for finding this.

While Korb from the "King and the Korb Weekly Lovefest" goes after Linda Pfeilsticker for being vague in answering questions, the same holds true for her Republican opponent Steve Drazkowski.

Look Drazkowski's "answers" to some questions put forth by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

In order to strengthen Minnesota's economy, strategic investment in transportation infrastructure is necessary. How do you propose to fund Minnesota's transportation infrastructure to assure the safest, most cost effective transportation system that will meet the economic and quality-of-life needs of our state?

Draz states:

There is enough money for transportation projects in Minnesota, we just need be more efficient and prioritize our spending on transportation projects.

Really? Is he serious? While I do not claim to be an expert on the road infrastructure in 28B, I do travel Greater Minnesota on a pretty regular basis, and know that the roads are in need of significant repair.

Seems like Draz is following the mantra of Seifert, Urdahl, Emmer, and Shimanski.

Cut, cut, cut
Borrow, borrow, borrow
Blame, blame, blame

Phoenix Woman posts about Pawlenty playing good cop to Molnau and Seifert's bad cop regarding transportation funding.

Bluestem Prairie covers transportation issues as well! Note that Draz wants to bond for roads! Build now, pay later!

While the transportation question has caught the eye of many, Drazkowski's lack of a response on the education question is what concerns me most.

Minnesota has adopted grade-level standards that describe what all students in Minnesota should know and be able to do by the time they graduate from high school. Minnesota administers statewide tests to measure student progress against those standards and to enable the public to easily compare student achievement in different schools. Which of the following statements is closest to your opinion about testing in Minnesota?

Testing background: Many employers report that high school graduates are unprepared for the demands of the workplace. And about 30 percent of first year students in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system (MnSCU) take at least one remedial course. To improve student achievement and increase accountability in our public education system, Minnesota, after more than a decade of debate and experimentation, adopted a set of statewide standards and a corresponding set of tests to measure students against those standards. Minnesota's efforts predated the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but the overall goal is consistent.

Steve Drazkowski: Has not yet responded.

He simply avoided the question. Students coming to MnSCU institutions unprepared for core level courses is rising. It has been rising for years and is a strain on limited resources on our college campuses.

Pfeilsticker is dead on in her response.

State testing can be appropriate for the measurement of student achievement if used to help schools address areas of concern. There can be such a thing as too much testing. Too many school days are consumed doing standardized tests which are very costly to administer. We need to minimize the number of testing days and use the test results as guides for overall curriculum development.

Why did Drazkowski dodge this question? What does he have to hide?

It's the status quo with Republican candidates, avoid the tough questions and provide bland answers with no vision for the future.

No answer on the education question and no vision on the transportation question.

Is this really what the voters in 28B want? An elected official with no vision for our future? We do not need more Dean Urdahl's, Tom Emmer's, Marty Seifert's, Ron Shimanski's, or Steve Drazkowski's. We need leaders who will lead in difficult situations, make the tough decision and not ride the party line to mediocrity.

More local musings

In my notable absence fighting neo-conservative political operatives, this story flew under my radar.

Thank goodness for great minds like Chris Truscott and Dave Mindeman at mnpACT!.

Rep Ron Shimanski takes pride in his first year at the capitol as an obstructionist.

House members held the line against over $5 billion in new, job-killing tax
increases. In cooperation with the governor, who made very clear from the
beginning that there were some initiatives that would be "poison pills" - making
an entire bill unsignable - House members promoted the values that Minnesotans
hold dear.

It's the same rant he sent out in his constituent email as well.

Thankfully, Dave was around to set Shimanski straight.

$5 billion...wow..sounds like a lot. But, a lot of that money was offset by property tax relief. New taxes on the wealthy to give a break to property owners already hit by a slumping housing market. That particular bill had a net increase in taxes of zero.

And one of the poison pills alluded to by Rep. Shimanski is an effort to take inflation into account for state budgeting. Most of you understand inflation... you know... the thing that made the Crosstown Project cost an additional 30% during a 3 year delay in execution. The thing consumers are noticing in the produce aisles. The increases the state takes into account on the revenue side of things but pretends doesn't exist for spending purposes.

In his hometown of Silver Lake, the top issue people talked to me about last year was property taxes. Shimanski failed his constituents and his hometown.

Another issue Shimanski failed to address deals with the Koch Industry / MinnCan pipeline debacle. Shimanski, a small farmer himself, failed to act to protect farmers near Lester Prairie and Plato, as pipeline representatives used coercive tactics in order to obtain permission to run the pipeline through their property.

The SC Times published a story today about the pipeline problems as well.

The owners of about 85 percent of those parcels have signed agreements giving Minnesota Pipe Line an easement across their property in exchange for a payment, company spokeswoman Patty Dunn said.

The owners of the remaining 15 percent haven't signed either because they haven't reached a financial agreement or because of objections to the project. The company filed petitions in 13 counties this week seeking condemnation of the easement tracts, Dunn said.

A blatant assault of property owners rights. Where are the conservatives on this? Tom Emmer? Ron Shimanski? Dean Urdahl? Why are you not protecting the private property rights of Minnesota's farmers?

Breaking around the District

Soldiers from Litchfield and surrounding communities are deploying to Iraq...again. Governor Pawlenty will most likely make his way out into the flyover areas to wish our troops the best.

I bet Urdahl keeps him off of County Road 22, too many potholes for the Governor. He'll stick to Highway 12.

Glencoe is losing some jobs. 25 jobs are expected to leave. It also follows job reductions at Starkey Labs and Bosch-Telex Communications.

The biggest economic hit will be felt in Hutchinson though. Hutchinson Technology is laying off 500 workers, 225 in the Hutchinson facility.

If you travel through small town Greater Minnesota, stop to check out the abundance of vacancy's in Howard Lake, Dassel, Cokato, Glencoe, Stewart, and Brownton.

Our rural economies are slowly but surely dying...and some seem to think our elected leaders are doing a great job in St Paul.

Although Mr. Glennie tends to write from a conservative side, I do enjoy his writings, his opinion and do side with him from time to time.

I do not on this instance.

Freshman House member Ron Shimanski, R-Silver Lake, did exactly what was
expected of a minority member of the Minnesota House of Representatives - he
voted party line and stood behind Gov. Tim Pawlenty, also a Republican, as the
governor vetoed bill after bill placed on his desk.

Shimanski made no bones about it. He was there to support the governor to
ensure that the large DFL majorities in both the House and Senate could not
override those vetoes without support of some Republican legislators. He was not
going to be one of them.

Wow. Shimanski joined the ranks of his tag team Rep in SD 18 and put politics before the people. Shimanski's duty, as an elected leader, was to support his constituents first, his party and Governor second. Clearly he has put his party and his political future before the people.

A LTE in the Dassel Cokato Enterprise Dispatch also caught my eye this week.

His commentary centered around the debate of the "separation of church and state". While the retired pastor commented on the passing of Jerry Falwell he also makes a very distinct point, as a retired Lutheran pastor.

The pulpit should be for proclaiming the Word of God. Never should a minister
use the pulpit to support a political candidate or party.

Concise and well said!

Speaking of religion and politics, Congresswoman Bachmann had a LTE in the Annandale Advocate as well.

We can continue our steadfast support for the men and women whose lives are in
danger as well as those who have returned home after long tours abroad -
soldiers who fought to keep us safe today as well as in years past - by keeping
the promises we've made to them: by providing them with the benefits to which
they are entitled in the years following service - all priorities of Congress
this year.

Perhaps Katherine Kersten and Congresswoman Bachmann should get on the same sheet of music!

No one has an advantage with a Special Session looming!

The Strib has a piece this morning with the headline "GOP has the edge at start of final week".

Call me a pessimist, but I doubt this is the "final week".

The headline and the story itself force me to question whether or not the GOP truly has the edge or not.

Back in November Minnesota's voters sent a resounding message to our elected officials. It led to the political tsunami that elected strong DFL majorities in both the House and the Senate.

Some have been listening to the concerns of the majority of Minnesotans.

No one campaigns on tax increases. I was asked this question at several forums across our district. At that time, I honestly stated that I saw no real need to raise taxes but thought we could generate more revenue for the state by taxing the highest income earning Minnesota's at a higher rate, depending on revenue forecasts and the expense of responding to the concerns of constituents.

In reality, less than 1/2 of 1 percent of Minnesotans would be asked to pay a higher tax.

It may be 6 months since the election and it would appear as some down in St Paul and the Startribune, have forgotten the core issues at hand.

Property tax increases have squeezed working and middle class Minnesotans.

Access to affordable and quality health care squeezes these same families tighter and tighter. While most Minnesotans are insured, the vast majority are also under-insured.

Because of high property taxes, school operating levies are failing at more and more schools across Greater Minnesota. The need for funding reform has been evident for more than a decade now, with little to no help for small districts like Atwater Cosmos Grove City and McLeod West.

Special education costs cut deeply into the General Operating Funds for these schools and others across Greater Minnesota.

Higher education tuition has skyrocketed under Governor Pawlenty and GOP rule.

Our lakes and streams are becoming more and more polluted.

Our roads are becoming more congested and falling in deep disrepair.

In response, the DFL put forth bills to begin to reverse Governor Pawlenty's damage from his "no new taxes" pledge, and someone has to help pay for it.

Despite all of these concerns, obstructionists like Tom Emmer, Marty Seifert, Ron Shimanski, Amy Koch, Bruce Anderson, Dean Urdahl, Laura Brod, Mark Olson and others have sided with the Governor and slowed any significant progress on the issues that matter most to Minnesotans.

Which leaves me to believe that no one has the advantage down in St Paul.

When this state moves towards another Special Session, voters around the state will once again be outraged. Outraged that elected leaders across both sides of the aisle have failed once again.

Failed to get their work done.

Failed to end the partisan staring contests.

Failure to solve the problems Minnesotans want solved.

I would be incredibly naive to think that the GOP would simply roll over and give Minnesotans and the DFL what they want.

Nor should they really.

Now, perhaps this has been covered on other blogs, but I have not seen it yet...so here goes.

What happened to the $300-$500 million the state could recoup by simply enforcing the tax code? I know Mike Hatch and others campaigned with this chip back the 06 election cycle.

Was this real or was this a ruse? Why hasn't anyone talked about this? Will this become a political chip in this "final week"?

If the GOP has an advantage in the "final week" it is a very slight advantage. The DFL still has a greater long term advantage though. They have produced quality legislation that does not coincide with the priorities of Governor Pawlenty and his small group of hatchet men and women.

The GOP has failed to respond to concerns around property taxes, health care, higher education, transportation, veterans issues and many others.

Until they do so, and stop protecting the top 1% while sacrificing the latter 99%, a GOP advantage may be shorter than any of us think.

A MinnCan LTE! Dassel Cokato Enterprise Dispatch!

Yesterday I posted some info and an update on the MinnCan pipeline being forced down the collective throats of rural West Central Minnesotan's.

Finally, some local coverage of the issue. The Enterprise Dispatch, a Dassel, Cokato, Darwin newspaper, has a LTE on the issue.

MinnCan’s crude oil pipeline severely impacts the lives of over 1,000 property owners in Minnesota, by taking their land and offering to pay pennies on the dollar for their property loss.

This is a significant concern for many farmers out here in rural Minnesota. Depsite that, and that all of our locally elected leaders have been endorsed and recieved money from the Farm Bureau, action seems to be very slow towards halting the proposed pipeline. Rep Urdahl is the only locally elected leader who has done anything thus far on this, meeting with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and with farmers in the Eden Valley area.

Senator Dille and Representative Shimanski has stated concern but I have seen little or no actual action thus far.

I wonder if all the PAC money from the petroleum industry has anything to do with this?

The LTE has an action to be taken as well, which all grassroots, issue based advocates must have.

The action is to lobby our elected officials to add language to protect property owners from the pipeline industry thugs, like Koch Industries. We already do it for the powerlines, we ought to do it for pipelines as well. It's really a very logical solution.

The “Buy the Farm - Pipeline Act” is based directly off an existing statute informally called the “Buy the Farm Act” (Minn.Stat 216E.12). “Buy the Farm” gives property owners the option to require proposers of high-voltage transmission lines to purchase their entire property rather than just an easement. The new law would simply extend this option to land owners that are affected by large crude oil pipelines.

So, get ahold of your State Senator and State Representative and make them aware of the issue. We strongly urge all of those affected, or who support the property owners in harm’s way, to call, e-mail, or write their representatives, asking them to bring the “Buy the Farm - Pipeline Act” to the floor. To find out who represents you, go to www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/Districtfinder.asp

Excellent LTE! We'll keep the pressure on!

Minnesota pipeline update

Unfortunately, the main stream media outlets in Minnesota are deficient in covering the proposed pipeline that will cut through the heart of rural West/Central Minnesota.

Most of the weekly newspapers out in our area are simply not covering the story. Are the same strong arm tactics being used with the small local papers as they were with the farmers Koch Industries scammed for their land?

The Startribune covered the hearings behind the pipeline and the coercive tactics used by Koch Industries and their agents.

Jonathon Posusta, who grows 230 acres of corn and soybeans on a century-old
family farm near Lester Prairie, broke down several times as he testified that
agents representing the pipeline project threatened some of his neighbors,
telling them that they would force the pipeline across their land if they didn't
sign easement agreements.

Even an administrative law judge found the tactics shady to say the least.

An administrative law judge who recommended in November that the state approve
the pipeline agreed with Posusta that landowners were sometimes treated poorly
by the process. Judge Beverly Jones Heydinger, who oversaw a series of public
hearings last fall concerning the pipeline, said some landowners were not told
that the original pipeline route had changed, moving the planned path onto their
properties, despite initial assurances that it would not cross their land, she
noted.

The Pioneer Press reported that the offers from Koch Industries were insultingly low, even with the coercive tactics.

"The offers … are so ridiculously low, it's pitiful," said Joyce H. Osborn, a Burnsville real estate broker who owns 105 acres in Scott County. "It's a real mess."

The McLeod County Chronicle has been the only local media outlet to cover the story, for which, they deserve a Colbert like "Tip of the Hat".

"People's rights were violated, and they never got their due process. It's
wrong," said Ken Posusta. Posusta's brother, Jonathan, is a McLeod County
farmer, and is purchasing 230 acres owned by their parents. That property is
being affected by the pipeline."People's property is one of the most important
things to their livelihood," said Posusta. "They (the pipeline company) need to
be held to a higher ethical and moral standard."

So, just who is Koch Industries?

Let's just say their safety record is not as stellar as one would like a pipeline company to be.

Koch Industries indicted on 97 counts of violating federal clean air and hazardous waste laws.

"Companies that produce dangerous pollutants simply cannot focus on profit
and efficiency at the expense of a community's health," said Lois Shiffer,
Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Environment and
Natural Resources Division. "We will continue to find and prosecute those who
would flout our environmental laws."

More violations and fines paid out by Koch.

For Koch Industries, the amounts of money it can save by sabotaging environmental
rules make the sums diverted to the think tanks that do the dirty work pale in
comparison. The year 2000 was particularly rough for the Kochs. In January, Koch
Industries agreed to pay about $35 million for violations of the Clean Water Act
related to 310 oil spills in six states. Two months later, Koch admitted to
environmental violations at its oil refinery in Rosemount,Minnesota, and was
forced to cough up another $8 million in penalties. Then in July, it agreed not
only to spend about $80 million to cut emissions from its Rosemount facility and
from two other refineries in Texas, but also to pay a $1million fine for
air-pollution violations.

Company execs have given almost a half million dollars to Republican's and to President Bush.

During the 1990s, the company's leaky pipelines were responsible for more than
300 oil spills in five states, prompting a penalty of $30 million.In 1996, a
faulty pipeline caused an explosion outside of Dallas in which two teenagers were
killed. In a lawsuit related to the deaths, a trial court returned a judgement of
$376.69 million against the company.

Remember what happened in Little Falls this past summer where more than 134,000 gallons of oil spewed from the pipeline.

Check out Rep. Jim Oberstar's press release.

The contaminated soil ranged from 6 to 18 inches deep.

Speaking of the size of the landfill for the contaminated soil,

"It’s the fourth largest landfill in the state." He further pointed out that, to
receive the contaminated soil, a thick heavy plastic liner has been put down,
covered with dense clay. The restoration phase will follow the recovery phase.
This could take years and will include having fresh soil brought in. Studies
will also continue. The site is on property owned by Robert and Cindy Poppen.
Their complete 75 acres have since been purchased by the Minnesota Pipeline
Company, operators of the pipeline.

Koch Industries will also run the pipeline through our backyards. What would 134,000 gallons of oil do to fertile farmland in Central Minnesota?

Having spoken to Senator Dille and Representative's Urdahl and Shimanski, a legislative solution is less likely than ever, but not out of the question. All of these elected officials expressed concern over the "low balling" being done by Koch Industries. Implementing eminent domain is also a significant concern for all of these leaders.

Rep Urdahl has done more on this issue than others though, and for that, I am grateful. He has met with the Public Utilities Commission, and with impacted land owners and farmers near Eden Valley.

Rep Shimanski though, is notably quiet. His weekly legislative updates talk about him going to trade shows in Hutchinson and other issues, nothing related to the MinnCan pipeline being forced down our throats.

So the question is what can we do about this. First of all, we are not done yet. The pipeline has a date with an appeals court in the future.

One thing I am pushing my elected leaders to do is to change the statutes around the "Buy the Farm Act (Minn.Stat 216E.12).

The statute provides land owners the option to force the builders of high power transmission lines (power lines) to have to purchase the entire land and not simply "low ball" an easement.

Check here for the specific language we can use to force this measure.

I'm anxiously awaiting word from Rep Urdahl on what he can do for changing this statute.

Glencoe Silver Lake School forum

As many of you know, the GSL school district has been in statutory operating debt for a few years now. They have also failed to pass a new levy each of the past two years.

The school board will hold an open forum on Monday March 5th at 7pm, at the high school auditorium.

I'll be there! Will Dille and Shimanski show up?

For a great piece on school funding issues, check out Christoper Truscott's work. It's always high quality stuff!