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Sunday, June 29, 2008

Elwyn Tinklenberg and the Little Guy. Trust Me, Your Plight is My Worry. And Pop Fifty, or Go Away.

I would not speak for Elwyn Tinklenberg's sincerity since he can speak for that himself. On his campaign website, Elwyn Tinklenberg says he recognizes families being squeezed by circumstances, and is not putting himself among the fit fat cats. Who would I be to doubt? Consiser the following four website snips. You can click the blurb headings, see the website, and (other than the images) it is humble but proud Elwyn quoted exactly, shooting straight, as a man to be your Congressman should do.


There's this -

ECONOMY

Today, working American families are experiencing levels of financial anxiety not seen since the Great Depression. Wages are no longer keeping pace with the rising cost of living, and job growth has stagnated even as the need for infrastructure and other public improvements has grown. As your Representative, I will provide strong leadership in Washington to help restore balance, fairness, and common sense in our economic policies.

Rather than offer more corporate tax breaks or deficit-funded rebate checks, we can turn to American ingenuity to build lasting solutions to our economic challenges. In Congress I will prioritize the kinds of innovative, job-based economic opportunities that the current administration has failed to develop.

- and this -

HOUSING & MORTGAGES

Owning a home is the cornerstone of the American dream. Yet the number of “For Sale” signs on our streets point to a serious crisis in the housing market. With assessed home values on the rise and appraised values on the decline, there is less security in what, for many of us, is our single biggest financial investment.

- and this -

HEALTHCARE

Healthcare coverage in the United States is exclusive and expensive. It is a major source of anxiety, not only for the 47 million uninsured Americans, but for millions more who are underinsured. Those with full coverage have watched their premiums increase an average of more than 10% per year over the past five years. Families whose wages have stagnated cannot afford these increases on top of soaring out-of-pocket and prescription costs.

In Congress, I will work toward establishing universal healthcare coverage. A universal healthcare system will ensure access, lower premiums for families, and help American businesses stay competitive. It will also improve the quality and efficiency of care by taking the burden off overcrowded emergency rooms and emphasizing prevention and early diagnosis.

- and this -

VETERANS

The pact we have made with our veterans is simple; our debt to them is profound. It is the unique responsibility of Congress to cut the red tape and guarantee that all our veterans have access to comprehensive services. We owe it to veterans to provide whatever assistance is needed to help them reintegrate successfully when their service is complete. In Congress I will vote to:

* Provide Veterans’ Administration hospitals with the necessary resources to guarantee veterans the best care available.

* Continue providing ample support and services for military families, who sacrifice so much for our country.

* Ensure that all servicemen and servicewomen who suffered lasting physical or psychological trauma receive all needed treatment, with a high threshold for denial of claims.

* Extend the benefits of the GI Bill to our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.


Wow! He wants to cut red tape even! For veterans. That sounds fair. True. Proper. All that sounds just great, and the guy is a champion against incumbent Michele Bachmann over one of the compelling issues of twenty-first century times, lightbulbs, as his campaign homepage proudly in currency green reminds us:




Hey, I am almost hot and sweating to send this guy money -- THE lightbulb man -- send him my twenty-five bucks. Today. Right now. Online. Sure I could spend it for food. I could spend it on the next payment on the mortgage, for the electric bill, but -- This is Elwyn Tinklenberg, man of the people after all, and --- But wait, -- wait, what's this -- My twenty-five bucks, he, Elwyn, it's too small a jot, go away, NO ELWYN, you can't really mean that, too proud to take twenty-five, next thing to undercut my faith in the world you'll tell me that NBA refs can cheat on calling a game -- Say it Ain't So, Joe.

But the website never lies.




It is as it is. Downloaded today, the marginalia says so, looking just as on the screen.

Pop fifty, or go away. Not worth the trouble unless you surrender fifty and up.

No two ways about that, it's a fact.

###
What to do? Where to spend? Where should you or I go where that hard-earned sacrifice of twenty-five not spent on yourself or myself will be appreciated. Well, there's millionaire Al Franken who is not too large a thing to turn it down. He'll take twenty-five. Not too proud to, and he's been to New York and Hollywood, and still not too proud:

Franken, contribute online here.


And he wants to be a Senator, not a mere representative where we have eight of them and they stand for election every two years, Franken will take my twenty-five bucks help and won't be back asking more for SIX years. Better deal, for sure.

And if there's DFL people running for Congress who would be thankful for ten bucks, what about them. No matter what the saying about empathy and identifying with the little guy, there are two who are not disdainful of my twenty-five buck contribution. Wow. Just as humble as ET. But not as proud, I guess. Ten gets attention.

Sarvi, contribute online here.


Madia, contribute online here.


Leave the proud to their fifty buck poppers, to richer folks than you or I. To PACs.

Bottom line: Sarvi, Madia, Franken, none of the three deserving DFL'ers is too proud for a twenty-five buck contribution. And, hey, on the Congressional races, Madia and Sarvi, they won't just "Do it" for veterans. They are veterans. No divinity school while a war's going on for them. They volunteered.

It goes to show.

________UPDATE________
I only noticed while checking links, besides the "Fifty talks, less cash walks," there's a distinctively Tinklenberg feature the other three mentioned DFL worthies do not offer. I can simply check a box for Tink, and monthly there will be an automatic tithing renewal, like on the mortgage; no problem going onto payments, just like some kind municipality, I suppose, dealing with Tinklenberg Group.

________FURTHER UPDATE_________
If you are a DFL'er in the Sixth District, wanting to spend in district, there is this; in order to offer an alternative to Elwyn Tinklenberg and Michele Bachmann, lobbyist or laughingstock, there was Bob Olson who lent his campaign cash to help us have a choice. We could contribute to Bob. He has not closed the campaign to prevent that.

Check his website - he will take twenty-five - here, and here.

If you go that route, helping Bob to break even [I have not seen any sign whether Tinklenberg has risked a single cent of his own wealth on his candidacy, other people's money, etc.], you might want to try one of those Olson campaign phone numbers to see if the website info is still current and operative. I have neglected Bob, I admit it, since he bowed out after Tinklenberg got the DFL endorsement. I am only guessing that giving cash to show appreciation for what Bob Olson did is still as easy as going onto the website.

________FURTHER UPDATE_________
I will close down the post after this one last thing. I just had to jump this empty bloviating rhetoric-disdain he shows for voters, from the above quote, ECONOMY, the bit about "turn to American ingenuity to build lasting solutions to our economic challenges." The only ingenuity I have seen out of Tinklenberg regarding an economic challenge is his leaving MnDOT with the Highway 10 study finalized as far as it went a half year earlier, and using it for personal gain. I cannot dispute, personal gain is within the spectrum of economic challenge, that is true. Yet, I am uncertian in such a totality of circumstances context where exactly the line is between disingenuity and ingenuity. Any thoughts?