Condi hits the news

So ABC finally put together a story on Condi Rice, connecting her to torture, like we haven't known about this for what, a couple of years? (http://www.condimustgo.com/ or http://www.democracyforamerica.com/) I suppose that we should be "happy" that it's better late than never, but for Pete's sake, what about the prez and the closet prez??? How can Jim Dean in good conscience holler about Condi and not look at her bosses? Somehow this is assbackwards. Keep us signing petitions to get rid of her, all the while keeping our minds off the economy, Iraq and the very most important issue that we face, Climate Change.

Take a look at these articles from yesterday to gain a better understanding of what we should be reading about.

Economists Debate Link Between War, Credit Crisis

By Jonathan WeismanWashington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, April 15, 2008; Page A03 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041402639.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

On the Economy, 70% Disapprove of Bush

By Jon CohenWashington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, April 15, 2008; Page A04 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041402842.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

Biofuel: the burning question

The production of biofuel is devastating huge swathes of the world's environment. So why on earth is the Government forcing us to use more of it?
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/biofuel-the-burning-question-808959.html

By Cahal MilmoTuesday, 15 April 2008

Taxpayers League or Tax Avoiders League

To: NEMP Members
Re: Taxpayers League Hubris
Today (4/14/08) I was at the State Capitol acting as an unpaid lobbyist for the Green Party. As our group left the north door of the state office building, which houses the offices for our representatives, I noticed a large sign in a first floor window. It said in bold print that "Liberals Raise Taxes". The Taxpayer's League web address was across the bottom of the sign. This represented a gross violation of proper decorum and fairness, and no doubt capitol building rules and regulations. The Taxpayers League is funded by wealthy contributors and may be better described as the tax avoiders league. It does not represent the working class who pay a higher percentage of income in taxes than those in the upper income brackets. It is a prominent conservative lobbying group. What would our capitol look like if every lobbying group found a window in the state office buildings in which to post their various signs? Paid lobbyist over-run our capitol now and this sign was yet anoth
er example of the arrogance displayed by some of them. At my suggestion, we re-entered the building and went into the office area where this sign was located. We made our disgust known to the person at the reception desk, and promised to be back if that sign were not removed. A gentleman in a fancy suite emerged from a back room to see what was going on as we were departing. We will be back there in a few days and if that sign is not gone, we will take the issue to someone who can make something happen.

I was shocked and angered by this blatant arrogance, which reinforced my motivation to keep returning to the capitol to advocate for fairness in our legislative process. The self-righteousness of this group allows it to do almost anything in the name of their cause, and I believe we must challenge their hubris every step of the way. To quote Alice Walker, "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." I hope that enpowerment wiil become a by-product of NEMP. Perhaps we need a sign as suggested by Lee Salisbury, "Conservatives Borrow From Their Grandchildren."

Bob Schmitz

Campaign finance

Star Tribune Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:51:34 GMT
Bachmann gets financial help from GOP fund

First-term Rep. Michele Bachmann is getting a financial helping hand in her re-election bid from a Republican Party fund that tries to assist candidates who are seen as vulnerable or specificially in the Democrats' cross-hairs. Bachmann is one of 10 Republicans who will get assistance from the party's Regain Our Majority Program (ROMP) 2008, which is overseen by House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. Also slated to get assistance is state Rep. Erik Paulsen, the only Republican running for the open seat being vacated by longtime Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad. Ramstad's seat is widely considered to be up for grabs because the district is less reliably Republican than it has been in the past. But Bachmann's inclusion on the ROMP assistance list shows how aggressively Democrats have already gone after her. And the help, which based on past ROMP spending patterns could reach $100,000, according to a party spokesman, follows the Democrats' decision to specifically target her. The cash from the ROMP program may be more symbolic than substantive, according to Federal Election Commission records. Through the end of last year, Bachmann already had raised nearly $1.2 million for her re-election bid, triple the amount raised by her two DFL challengers combined.

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Remember, and act

Thanks to Digby for the youTube link. Please read her entire post. Her call to action ends

The power of collective action. The power of bottom-up organizing. The power of seeing a world where everyone is in it together, where everyone has a stake in one another. The power of fighting for justice and fairness and right, and moving mountains just by walking together. We get cynical in this medium a lot, and maybe we have a right to; after all, forty years ago they shot Dr. King for leading such a movement. But the legacy lives on, and I believe in his aphorism that "the long arc of history bends toward justice." This movement, this place where we've all gravitated, is but a small kernel of that legacy. But it's growing, and regardless of the President or the Congress or whoever it will continue to move forward. And one day, we will get there.

National honor

Star Tribune Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:39:10 GMT
Disavowed Justice Department legal memo: constitutional protections did not apply

WASHINGTON - For at least 16 months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, the Bush administration believed that the Constitution's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures on U.S. soil didn't apply to its efforts to protect against terrorism. ... "The recent disclosures underscore the Bush administration's extraordinarily sweeping conception of executive power," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's National Security Project. "The administration's lawyers believe the president should be permitted to violate statutory law, to violate international treaties and even to violate the Fourth Amendment inside the U.S. They believe that the president should be above the law."

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John Marty: Lobbying by Deception and Misinformation

An Apple Pie Alliance article:

To the Point!
Lobbying by Deception and Misinformation
by Senator John Marty
March 30, 2008
Many people are familiar with the phrase "grassroots lobbying." It implies that the public feels strongly about a bill and people contact their elected officials demanding action.

Unfortunately, most of what appears to be grassroots/citizen lobbying is orchestrated by well-funded interest groups, using by highly-paid consultants and PR firms.

To stimulate this citizen passion, especially when the public might not agree with their real goal, lobbyists work to inflame public sentiment even if it means distorting the truth. This is certainly not true of all lobbyists and interests, but it is far too common among some.

This year Minnesota legislators have received countless emails urging us to oppose Senate File 833, which "threatens the affordability and accessibility of (cell phone) services for all of Minnesota's families and businesses."

To stimulate public opposition to this, the cell phone industry's ad campaign showed a picture of a frustrated woman looking over a document labeled "State Wireless Taxes and Fees" with a caption: "So why are state legislators threatening to increase the cost of our wireless?"

Shortly before SF 833 was heard in the Senate Commerce Committee I read the bill, expecting to see some questionable regulations or taxes. What I found was quite different.

Continue reading at Apple-Pie Alliance

The moral test

Pioneer Press Sat, 29 Mar 2008
Letters to the editor

The moral test
"Here we go again!"to quote former President Reagan. Gov. Tim Pawlenty does a feel-good minuscule tax cut. Then he heads for the Minnesota Care Fund, which should be used to assure affordable, accessible health care coverage for all uninsured and underinsured Minnesotans. When you are a low-income employee and have a $3,500 to $5,000 deductible, you probably put off seeking preventive care until it is an emergency. And then, it is very expensive and you are financially and physically unable to cope. Our own family had a good example of that. Sen. Hubert Humphrey said, "The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children: those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly: and those in the shadows of life: the sick, the needy and the handicapped." How would you rate our governor?

Christeen M. Stone
Maplewood

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Teaching

(13:20)

[If you have a relatively slow connection, a good way to watch youTubes and other videos is to press Play (the triangle/arrow) and then immediately press Pause (||). Downloading will continue while it is paused. Go do something else for a few minutes while some of the video downloads, and then come back and Press Play to watch the video. This should avoid the annoying start/stop that occurs when the player catches up to the amount of video that has been downloaded.]

Roll up your sleeves

The Saturday letters in the Star Tribune help define our work:

BACHMANN'S BULBS She's making sense

Rep. Michele Bachmann is right about the ban on incandescent light bulbs.

• It is a forced tax on consumers. Instead of paying pennies for a bulb, we pay dollars.

• Incandescent bulbs are safe, while fluorescent bulbs contain mercury. I thought no amount of mercury was safe. Do we really believe they all will be recycled instead of ending up in landfills seeping into ground water?

• I use both types of bulbs in my home, and the fluorescent bulbs do not stand up to their claims. From my experience, I replace them almost as often as regular bulbs. They burn out quickly in enclosed fixtures and are useless in a cold garage (the cold causes them to dim too low to be useful).

• We are being forced to replace our light bulbs to save energy but also forced into digital TVs that use three times as much energy as a regular TV.

There are many available options to conserving energy. Why replace a light bulb with another that may be hazardous?

PAUL MONSON, EAGAN

VETS FOR FREEDOM

Left playing politics

After reading several opinions concerning the Vets for Freedom flap at Forest Lake High School, I am left with the feeling that those on the far left have decided that it is more important to be anti-Republican than patriotic.

JOHN MISGEN, SCANDIA

A good call by school

As a retired Forest Lake school teacher and a veteran of two wars, I would like to comment on the wonderful support our veterans have received through the years.

In my 37 years in Forest Lake, I have seen and experienced nothing but total support for our veterans, both by the school district and our community. We can be very proud of that fact.

Every year numerous veterans have been invited to our schools, both elementary through secondary, to speak about patriotism and their military experiences. Always welcomed in our schools are the honor guards from our veterans' organizations who speak on patriotism, donate American flags and patriotic information to our students.

Our school district employs many veterans and each year honors the military veteran teachers and staff.

Our school bands and choirs support numerous events for our students, both in our community and outside our community.

I have met twice with Steve Massey, our Forest Lake Senior High School principal, over the "Vets for Freedom" issue, along with many teachers, staff members and students. I am convinced after reviewing the facts that the right decision was made to cancel the Vets for Freedom event at the high school on March 25.

JAMES P. NOLL, FOREST LAKE;

RETIRED ARMY LIEUTENANT COLONEL

Berglin health bill passes Senate

Star Tribune Fri, 28 Mar 2008
State health care bill passes key hurdle

A measure that would radically alter the health scene got the state Senate's preliminary OK but faces a rough road. ... In a tense debate that dragged on through the evening, some of the staunchest DFL supporters of health care found themselves opposing the bill, warning of unintended consequences, while some Republicans defended the changes. "This could be the No Child Left Behind of health care," said Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville. "Some things are out of whack in this bill." The measure, sponsored by Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, would vastly change the health scene in Minnesota. Providers would make their fees public. Standard benefit sets would allow consumers to compare care and prices. The state would monitor children's obesity levels, and chronic diseases could be managed through nurse phone calls as well as doctor visits.

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Innocents abroad

Star Tribune Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:53:33 GMT
A political agenda hid behind a talk with heroes

Tuesday's cancellation of a visit to Forest Lake High School by Iraq War veterans in a giant bus labeled "Vets For Freedom National Heroes Tour" produced a bonanza of outraged media reports. ... Forest Lake shows how badly we need to talk about this war. And how very hard it is to do.

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This is not from The Onion

Star Tribune Wed, 26 Mar 2008
Bachmann is pro-choice on bulbs

The Minnesota congresswoman says people should be free to use traditional incandescent or compact fluorescent light bulbs, and she has introduced a bill to halt a phase-out program. WASHINGTON - How many members of Congress does it take to change a light bulb? Americans may soon find out, courtesy of a contrarian piece of legislation introduced this month by Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Titled the "Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act," the bill seeks to repeal the nationwide phase-out of conventional light bulbs, the kind that have been used for more than a century -- pretty much since the invention of the incandescent light bulb.

More from the Star Tribune: Her bill, the first challenge of its kind, raises safety questions about the small amounts of mercury in fluorescent lights. It also lands her squarely in the middle of the debate over global warming. In recent remarks to a gathering of Sherburne County Republicans -- reported in the West Sherburne Tribune -- Bachmann called any human connection to global warming "voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax."

Giant Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses

National Geographic story and photo

A progressive position on health care

As our steering committee meeting today spent substantial time on health care, this Ezra Klein (the American Prospect) post might be of interest:

Kevin Drum:

As progressives, our goal shouldn't be to provide gold-plated care to every person in the country, nor should it be to restrict the ability of the rich to get better service if they want to pay for it. Our goal should be to provide decent care to everyone, with the market free to operate on top of that.

How Kevin was able to get an early glance at my next tattoo is anyone' guess (I had the whole thing translated into kanji, too!), but that's a pretty perfect description of how I understand the role of the progressive health reformer. It's also why I joke at panels that my plan for health reform is invading France and taking their system. I'm down with no blood for oil, but I'd give some blood for universal coverage.

Meanwhile, a quick thought on cost control: When talking about costs, folks need to distinguish whether they're talking about getting more value for each dollar or reducing total spending. The two might not be the same. Prevention, for instance, gets far more value out of each dollar. But if it keeps people alive a whole lot longer, that's more time for them to contract various illnesses, and when they grow old, to die from something expensive. So though prevention may mean our health dollars are doing a whole lot more good, it may not mean we're spending less as a total percentage of GDP. Conversely, we could outlaw coverage of statins, which would save some money, but kill a lot of folks. Now, I'm not saying the two ends are opposed. Indeed, getting good value is probably a complementary goal to spending less. But it's not the same thing.

Why a progressive approach to governing is needed

Star Tribune Mon, March 17, 2008
Uneasy Economy: Painful round of state budget cuts to hit poor, working class

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Financially strapped states are looking to take away government health insurance and benefits from millions of Americans already struggling with a souring economy. An Associated Press review of the budgets in all 50 states reveals coverage would be eliminated for hundreds of thousands of poor children, disabled and the elderly. More than 10 million people would lose dental care, access to specialists, name-brand prescription drugs or other benefits. About 20 million could see their care jeopardized by further cuts to doctors' reimbursements. Health care is a choice target as governors and legislators confront the worst deficits they've faced in a decade or more, but that's not their only target: They're also considering cuts in aid to schools and universities, shrinking state workforces and even releasing prisoners before their sentences are completed. Safety-net programs for the elderly, disabled and out-of-work also could be cut, even as the demand for those services is on the rise. Despite the dire conditions, only a handful of states are seriously considering general tax increases or even modest hikes on the wealthy to close the gaps. Lawmakers say they fear such actions would only further stress the economy. Instead, states are looking to increase lottery ticket sales, promote Indian gambling or further raise taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. Those taxes disproportionately hit the pocketbooks of the same poor and working-class that would be hurt by the spending cuts, studies show.

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Marty to discuss universal health care on SCC 15

Senate File 2324 is a single-payer, universal health care bill being considered in the Minnesota Legislature.  The bill's author, Senator John Marty, will appear live on Monday night, March 17, on Suburban Community Channel 15, "Our World Today," broadcast at 8:00 PM and hosted by Bill Oldfather.  Joining them will be Dr. Susan Hasti, M.D., of the MN Universal Health Care Coalition.

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