Mother Goose goes to Caucus.

For those intent to go to caucus, please, understand the "to caucus" process this way:

TO MARKET

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig.
Home again, home again, jiggety jig.
To market, to market, to buy a fat hog,
Home again, home again, jiggety jog.
To market, to market, to buy a plum bun,
Home again, home again, market is done.

Then, if your chosen candidate does not fare well and you wonder about the cluster of absolute idiots who outvoted you:

FOR EVERY EVIL

For every evil under the sun
There is a remedy or there is none.
If there be one, seek till you find it;
If there be none, never mind it.

A sound result, so far. Acknowledgement of a letter inquiry to the U.S. Attorney about Elwyn Tinklenberg's federal lobbying status has been received.

To me this is about as good as it gets. In response to the letter sent U.S. Attroney Frank J. Magill, Jr., last week posted here, Jan. 29, 2008, Mr. Magill replied that the matter is not within his jurisdiction, but my letter has been duly forwarded - it was a joint letter sent Feb. 1, to Jerry Hiniker and to me.

It is fortunate that it takes the local U.S. Attorney's office out of something that otherwise might have been politicized to harm that office - or at least had that potential.

It appears the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House have jurisdiction over matters concerning registration of lobbyists under the statute. That is something I was unaware of, in contacting the Justice Department. It is a statute I am unfamiliar with and I erred.

However the letter is being forwarded to the Department of Justice's Office of Legislative Affairs "to determine whether the matter should be forwarded to the Secretary or Clerk."

The courtesy is appreciated. It takes the burden off of Jerry and me to redirect our inquiry, and allows an official at DOJ with experience to handle things instead. If the letter is in any way insufficient or not meriting forwarding, it would have been so if sent by Jerry and me to the legislative branch offices had we initially routed it that way. Also, if raising a suitable question for the legislative offices I am certain it will be promptly and duly handled by the DOJ's Office of Legislative Affairs.

This is an opportunity to publicly thank the local U.S. Attorney for his prompt and courteous handling of the inquiry, and an opportunity to let anyone reading this know that the matter is moving in due course.

Olson puts his money where his mouth is. Tinklenberg, milking cash cows all over creation, does not.

If you do not have much cash, letting a friend pick up the lunch check is okay.

If you are raking in funds hither and yon, who are you, if you defer entirely to your "friends?"

Consider this:

FEC information for Olson and Tinklenberg are out.

I am very deeply troubled by what I see in a candidate of principle and commitment, Bob Olson, putting his own money into his candidacy, standing up for what he believes in enough to put personal wealth at risk for public service; when his opponent is using PAC money and out-of-state money (primarily out of state DC dollars), to freeload without putting a single penny of any of his own wealth at risk behind himself and his candidacy.

And he has, personally and Tinklenberg Group-wise, been raking in all that lobbying/consulting cash for probably every day since the operation was incorporated and the trade name reserved, back in November, 2002. He started consulting for cash in Ramsey, early in 2003. That's years ago, thousands ago, six-figure thousands I believe, if my understanding of the numbers is correct.

Bob Olson believes in himself. With loans and a few paybacks, he still stands $97,500 in the hole, as of the FEC reporting date/data cutoff.

Tinklenberg believes in what? DC friends and friendly PACs, who believe in him?

They believe in one another?

Bob Olson deserves the respect of every Sixth District citizen wanting a choice, for doing such an honorable and selfless thing.

There seems to be no selfishness at all, in the Bob Olson effort.

ANYBODY WHO WILL STAND AS HE DOES DESERVES YOUR CONTRIBUTION. The Olson for Congress campaign website will give details - contribute online or check it to see where to send the check.

All those lawyers giving loot to Tinklenberg, per his FEC report, reminds me of Hal Philip Walker.

Nashville, 1975, the candidate for President we never saw, only hearing him on the loudspeaker:

Who do you think is running Congress? Farmers? Engineers? Teachers? Businessmen? No, my friends. Congress is run by lawyers. A lawyer is trained for two things and two things only. To clarify - that's one. And to confuse - that's the other. He does whichever is to his client's advantage. Did you ever ask a lawyer the time of day? He told you how to make a watch, didn't he? Ever ask a lawyer how to get to Mr. Jones' house in the country? You got lost, didn't you? Congress is composed of five hundred and thirty-five individuals. Two hundred and eighty-eight are lawyers. And you wonder what's wrong in Congress. No wonder we often know how to make a watch, but we don't know the time of day.

So lawyers are the problem. And Tinklenberg has a retinue of "counselors" as "contributors."

Go figure.

And Hal Philip, talking about doing "whichever is to the client's advantage."

Who's the client? For Tinklenberg Group, it is obvious -- the client is whoever is the Group's payor. The dispenser of cash.

The payee then of course is the Group.

But this running for office, it is different.

It is not buying servicing. It is supporting a candidacy.

Tinklenberg's FEC report. Despite all the love, ...

Neither Tom Gamec, nor Ben Dover, the Ramsey taxpayer, are listed individual donors surpassing the listing threshold.

But Ben, he's been doing his share - for Tinklenberg, Group-wise, always smiling.



BEN SAYS: "I gave at the office."

THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Almost 54% of Elwyn Tinklenberg's money came from PACs.

Bob Olson's money 0% from PACs.

A contrast in origins, but each has about the same funds on hand reported:

Olson $92,000

Tinklenberg $96,000

Figures from Blue Man in a Red District, here, linking to the FEC Tinklenberg item.

Tinklenberg itemized receipts, his individuals, here, and his organizations, here.

Money from the Mesabi Fund, money from U.S. Steel PAC - where again in MN 6 are these guys? Sounds Iron Range to me.

Money from a "Valley PAC." PO Box 529, Washington, DC 20044. Who are they and what is their abiding tie to Tinklenberg and/or Minnesota's Sixth District?

Beats me, I have heard of valley girls, not Valley PAC.

With that PO box in DC, it is hard to tell which valley, eh?

Money from Steve Bosacker, he was a Ventura administration man, now on the Board of the PACT school that got located on the blighted land, at Ramsey Town Center. That blighted land thing, Cairns the lawyer brought that approach up. The Kurak + other Town Center site land -- blighted? Huh? It was a cornfield Al Pearson's family planted and perhaps harvested, I remember the crop left standing but the green acres status protected before big thinking about a Town Center. Cairns used a statute apparently originally intended for rehabilitation of blighted land. That was back in 2003, just after Kuraks and Nedegaard closed, the blighted land thing was used for the bonding arrangements of PACT school, courtesy of lawyer Cairns.

Other Tinklenberg individuals -

I see, Oakton, Virginia.

I see, Falls Church, Virginia.

I see, St. Paul.

One guy from Briggs & Morgan, the Cairns law firm.

The Oakton, Va. guy, occupation, Lobbyist. More attorneys it looks like than ordinary folks. We could tell a lawyer joke for each and would we run out of jokes, or donors first?

Big time bucks, Jim Deal, NAU Insurance, blogged before as a Town Center mover shaker, involved in some Highway 10 land where Bruce Nedegaard was in title, the RALF buyout arranged by Tinklenberg Group, but ...



Different story.

Leave it for now - President, Robert Muir Company, Eden Prarie, MN. Gotta get my Sixth District map out, find that town, where it is in the district.

Two in a row from Edina.

Tom Gump. Involved in the dealings where Tinklenberg was registered lobbyist, Hassan [whatever] LLC, the Hassan Township - Rogers - Dayton joint program for an I-94 interchange to assist the Stone's Throw development, Gump's firm's client's deal. A Beard Group friend of Tinklenberg Group. Groups of a feather must flock together.

Carolyn Gabel, retired, Chestertown, Maryland.

AASHTO - whoever, you tell me, the guy from there is in Fairfax, Virginia.

Grass roots? Crabgrass, not developer crabgrass, DC crabgrass.

An "investor," from Fargo. But that's North Dakota, not Sixth District ----

A guy from Barna, Guzy gave.

Danville, California?

Where's that? What's the Tinklenberg charm reaching there?

***

Sorry. I am not impressed.

It's hard to wrap up - it is worth anyone's study to see if this is the Scarecrow from Oz - stuffed with straw by out-of-towners and PACs. Unimpressive is the only word I have for it.

Remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? "Who are those guys?"

Very important information - which I hope every blogger who intends to caucus DFL posts or mentions.

Although not a DFL insider, official, big contributer, etc., I did caucus last cycle for Wetterling, and now I am on a party mailing list.

The information is helpful for all who may/will be caucusing DFL, and if the Obama "new people into the fold" stories are true, and some may learn by reading this of caucus detail without otherwise knowing, it is worth my time in putting up this post.

The email states:

Dear Eric,

Now it’s your turn to make change.

On Tuesday, February 5, you will finally have your say in the most exciting, wide-open Democratic presidential race in decades when you go to your DFL precinct caucus to cast your vote on the presidential preference ballot.

Then you can start weighing in on the race to unseat Norm Coleman and the exciting campaigns around our state for Congress and the Minnesota House.

And when your caucus is over, join us in Saint Paul at our all-DFL caucus celebration.

So on February 5, take your turn. Go to caucus and make a difference.

Need your caucus location? Go to

http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/

or

http://www.dflcaucuses.org/.

If you’re in the Twin Cities, join us after your precinct caucus for our first-ever DFL Caucus-Night Party in Saint Paul. We’ll watch Minnesota and national returns and hear from great DFL elected officials, candidates, and campaign representatives about moving forward together and fighting for change in 2008. Come celebrate our first big step toward victory in November!

DFL Caucus-Night Party
Tuesday, February 5
8:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Carpenters Union Hall
710 Olive Street, Saint Paul

Super Tuesday, February 5, promises to be one of the most exciting nights in DFL history. Go to caucus and be a part of it!

Sincerely,



Brian Melendez
Chair
Minnesota DFL Party

Donna Cassutt
Associate Chair
Minnesota DFL Party

Those who caucused before probably got the same email. This post is for any Crabgrass readers who might be new to the process but with favored candidates and cause to want to caucus this cycle. History will be made whichever presidential candidate of the remaining two reaches the general election. It is a chance to be part of history. That's not my original idea. John Edwards in bowing out noted how his concession left the field poised for history.

Finally, for newbies, the email had an "unsubscribe" link, but not info I could post for readers on how to become mailing list members. I tried parsing back the given link, but got a password protected site portal. As I say, not an insider, I don't have a user name or password, and don't belong there, so I leave it at that. Probably calling DFL central, via a Google of the two sender names above, will indirectly via site-search and parsing back, get such access to the e-mailings, for any newbie reader wanting it.

Try hard, and you may even get a password protected insider-access-authorization -- if you want. I don't need it. It is there. I leave it to others.