It's a self-contained story not needing an excerpt. Read details, these links:
Minn Progressive Project.
MinnPost.
Politics in Minnesota.
Minnesota Independent.
Hometown Source Blogs.
Names. Of interest to political junkies. If any are reading, pick a link.
We can later see what Reed's paying them. She waited until the FEC reporting period ended. It is interesting to see she would do that. We have a quarter to wait to see who's paid what.
We can wait. With Clark reporting and staff and consultant arrangements already in order, we have less delay in the delayed gratification of pouring over filings.
The big question - will the Reed fund raising numbers on the new reporting equal earlier amounts and demographic distribution? Soon, we see.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Two interesting alternative energy items online, MPR. Congradulations to Rep. Jeremy Kalin, of North Branch.
The Kalin appointment, by President Obama, to head an advisory panel of 40 legislators from various states; this link.
Kalin, representing a North Branch area district, has an interesting background, with degrees in ceramics and architecture; this link.
I wonder if he is a protege of Janet Johnson, a clean energy pioneer also from North Branch, who served in the legislature until her death in 1999. This link.
.................
Second item, cross-border environmental and regulatory considerations, over a proposed wind farm, "in southern Minnesota that would be paid for by Wisconsin utility ratepayers." This link. I am unsure of what the energy wheeling arrangements will be, and what the siting and financing situation is, and why. The report is vague about that. Have a look.
It is good to see clean energy given due attention.
Wind energy, at an economically competitive cost is becoming a reality. The scaling up of wind turbines to produce ever greater amounts of power is probably the driving factor, economies of scale, while the greater the diversity of siting, the easier it will be to integrate wind energy with its variable and unpredictable local variation, into the entire national grid.
The MPR report notes:
It might be the Wisconsin regulators are allowing the utility to meet its clean energy percentage requirements cross-border, where, presumably, the wind levels are more consistently suitable.
Kalin, representing a North Branch area district, has an interesting background, with degrees in ceramics and architecture; this link.
I wonder if he is a protege of Janet Johnson, a clean energy pioneer also from North Branch, who served in the legislature until her death in 1999. This link.
.................
Second item, cross-border environmental and regulatory considerations, over a proposed wind farm, "in southern Minnesota that would be paid for by Wisconsin utility ratepayers." This link. I am unsure of what the energy wheeling arrangements will be, and what the siting and financing situation is, and why. The report is vague about that. Have a look.
It is good to see clean energy given due attention.
Wind energy, at an economically competitive cost is becoming a reality. The scaling up of wind turbines to produce ever greater amounts of power is probably the driving factor, economies of scale, while the greater the diversity of siting, the easier it will be to integrate wind energy with its variable and unpredictable local variation, into the entire national grid.
The MPR report notes:
Wisconsin Power & Light already has received regulatory approval in Wisconsin for the project, so the Minnesota approval means the utility can move forward with its plans. The project will help the utility meet renewable energy requirements set by Wisconsin.
It might be the Wisconsin regulators are allowing the utility to meet its clean energy percentage requirements cross-border, where, presumably, the wind levels are more consistently suitable.
GOP governor hopefuls. Pat Anderson.
I have noted Tom Emmer, and Mike Jungbauer, my State Seanator in posts, respectively here and here.
Polinaut reports on Pat Anderson.
I admit knowing little about Anderson, she had a different last name when auditor, "Awada" I believe, but I think she has been me-too coat-tailing on Mike Jungbauer's global warming skepticism claims. I prefer the original. Jungbauer has ideas I disagree with, but of the three, I would prefer him.
And, I know, there are others. A multitude. So many, you'd really have to be special with fishes and loaves to feed them all.
The Polinaut link has a range of comments some might want to read that I find interesting.
______UPDATE____
This pdf item was linked to by Polinaut, and I find it interesting it takes three pages to say, "I endorse Pat Anderson." When the endorsor gets too wordy sometimes it might be best to let the endorsee speak for herself:
With that Pat Anderson quote, how much of the remainder of that excerpt is necessary?
Anyway, the campaign website link is in there, look as much as you like.
_______FURTHER UPDATE______
Who is this person?
Three single spaced pages, and I did a word search. Nowhere does it say "contribute."
What kind of an endorsement is that?
Here is the nitty-gritty.
_________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Anderson is not the only one seeking to try swinging on Ron Paul's -- coat-tails.
This link. That one, she has not been kissing war mongers lately.
Passing fancies pass, I guess. It's probably the political currency of the coat tail that trumps. Perhaps she's no longer a WELS Lutheran either.
At least Anderson has less baggage to jettison in choosing to join the Paul parade.
Out of curiosity, does anyone know if Ron Paul has any appearances scheduled for Mac Hammond's suburban theater-funhouse? He seems prosperous enough to be invited. Somehow I expect even with an advance invitation Paul might have "other commitments."
__________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Troll says, "Mike Jungbauer is a Pastor... Why would a god hating atheist like you prefer Mike? It just shows you have no coherent political philosophy just uncontrolled emotion."
Actually, he can spend his Sundays as he likes. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer has an ethics that is not apart from being a religious person. Jungbauer, like Nelson-Pallmeyer, has seen first-hand third world situations and needs, and understands the dynamics. I don't know if it was missionary work, or what, in Central America, I only heard him make a passing mention. He has never that I have seen been an immigrant basher. It is so easy, and so many, many in the GOP do it. He doesn't. All that is fine with me.
Anderson presents herself as a Ron Paul devotee. Ron Paul says, "They Want My Money." Anderson has criticism from within the GOP camp. She appears to me to be as sincere in things as Michele Bachmann. There is a history, where rank and file and leadership hung together [Anderson too, presumably].
Emmer is a brain-damaged rabid bleating billy goat.
It's an easy call - of the three, Jungbauer.
________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Pat Anderson, where were you yesterday? Dusty Trice knows; this link, plus, his "Show-me-the-Banner" pic.
Look at those last two right-side banner names - I read "Seifert," and I read "Anderson." Closing rank to exclude Ron Paul. "Support the Committee Reports that will be presented and don’t open the door for Paul manipulation," is letter text that the Trice post highlighted.
Dogs hunt in packs, and cut sharp corners at picking up the right scent at the right time. Anderson and Bachmann now pose as after Ron Paul limelight.
At least there's none of that in Jungbauer's running.
Otherwise -- Ho, hum, same old trustworthy as ever GOP.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, doesn't it Marianne and Pat? This Marianne. Two years on the outside looking in, now an insider herself and endorsement-cozy with one of the scornful insiders who'd been looking out; looking out to not "open the door for Paul manipulation."
Oh well ...
........................
update to the last update - the Stebbins-Anderson alliance might be more than a convenient shift - this Strib item suggests it goes back to May 2008, and that I might have jumped too quickly to a conclusion.
Does any reader have any insight to add via a comment or email? I am open to correction if I am in error. I invite it, if Anderson did strongly break ranks earlier over exclusion of Ron Paul people in 2008 - something I missed in first reading the linked Trice post, but there, with the link to the Strib item. Take this as a qualified correction. I would like reader feedback, one way or the other, to be more certain???
Polinaut reports on Pat Anderson.
I admit knowing little about Anderson, she had a different last name when auditor, "Awada" I believe, but I think she has been me-too coat-tailing on Mike Jungbauer's global warming skepticism claims. I prefer the original. Jungbauer has ideas I disagree with, but of the three, I would prefer him.
And, I know, there are others. A multitude. So many, you'd really have to be special with fishes and loaves to feed them all.
The Polinaut link has a range of comments some might want to read that I find interesting.
______UPDATE____
This pdf item was linked to by Polinaut, and I find it interesting it takes three pages to say, "I endorse Pat Anderson." When the endorsor gets too wordy sometimes it might be best to let the endorsee speak for herself:
When we asked her to join our slate, she didn't even hesitate, but agreed to appear on the liberty slate despite the disapproval of the party leaders. She was the top vote-getter in the National Delegate balloting. I am not one to tout “electability” as a prerequisite for a candidate, but when we have candidates that are strong, principled supporters of individual liberty and limited government, electability becomes a differentiating issue.
Pat has the best chance of any candidate to enhance the liberty movement within the Minnesota GOP. She is not an angry outsider that scares party leadership into bolstering defenses against liberty ideas, nor is she a verbal bomb-throwing libertarian who frightens traditional Republicans who hold traditional values. And the positive relationships Pat built with the media when she was state auditor – every major newspaper in the state save one, including the Star Tribune endorsed her reelection – means that “Governor” Pat Anderson would be a very public spokeswoman for individual liberty and limited government.
“Individual Liberty and Limited Government” is the top issue on Pat’s campaign website (www.anderson4governor.com). In far more detail than any other candidate (which translates into far more understanding and commitment) Pat’s ideas would be right at home on liberty group sites. Her site reads in part:
“The Pat Anderson administration will be based on individual liberty and a state government that is limited in scope, acts smartly and is transparent in its exercise of power. Specifically, Pat will demand that the State Legislature operate from a presumption of individual liberty. … Limited government, a government limited in scope, not in authority, will be the motivation of state policy. Where government has a constitutional obligation, government will be “fully funded” and act in a strong and decisive manner. Where government has no constitutional authority to act, it will not act at all. … The burden of proof falls on the Legislature to cite its constitutional authority for legislation and demonstrate how the proposed legislation is necessary to fulfilling that obligation – before any debate on the merit of the proposal itself takes place.”
With that Pat Anderson quote, how much of the remainder of that excerpt is necessary?
Anyway, the campaign website link is in there, look as much as you like.
_______FURTHER UPDATE______
Who is this person?
Three single spaced pages, and I did a word search. Nowhere does it say "contribute."
What kind of an endorsement is that?
Here is the nitty-gritty.
_________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Anderson is not the only one seeking to try swinging on Ron Paul's -- coat-tails.
This link. That one, she has not been kissing war mongers lately.
Passing fancies pass, I guess. It's probably the political currency of the coat tail that trumps. Perhaps she's no longer a WELS Lutheran either.
At least Anderson has less baggage to jettison in choosing to join the Paul parade.
Out of curiosity, does anyone know if Ron Paul has any appearances scheduled for Mac Hammond's suburban theater-funhouse? He seems prosperous enough to be invited. Somehow I expect even with an advance invitation Paul might have "other commitments."
__________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Troll says, "Mike Jungbauer is a Pastor... Why would a god hating atheist like you prefer Mike? It just shows you have no coherent political philosophy just uncontrolled emotion."
Actually, he can spend his Sundays as he likes. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer has an ethics that is not apart from being a religious person. Jungbauer, like Nelson-Pallmeyer, has seen first-hand third world situations and needs, and understands the dynamics. I don't know if it was missionary work, or what, in Central America, I only heard him make a passing mention. He has never that I have seen been an immigrant basher. It is so easy, and so many, many in the GOP do it. He doesn't. All that is fine with me.
Anderson presents herself as a Ron Paul devotee. Ron Paul says, "They Want My Money." Anderson has criticism from within the GOP camp. She appears to me to be as sincere in things as Michele Bachmann. There is a history, where rank and file and leadership hung together [Anderson too, presumably].
Emmer is a brain-damaged rabid bleating billy goat.
It's an easy call - of the three, Jungbauer.
________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Pat Anderson, where were you yesterday? Dusty Trice knows; this link, plus, his "Show-me-the-Banner" pic.
Look at those last two right-side banner names - I read "Seifert," and I read "Anderson." Closing rank to exclude Ron Paul. "Support the Committee Reports that will be presented and don’t open the door for Paul manipulation," is letter text that the Trice post highlighted.
Dogs hunt in packs, and cut sharp corners at picking up the right scent at the right time. Anderson and Bachmann now pose as after Ron Paul limelight.
At least there's none of that in Jungbauer's running.
Otherwise -- Ho, hum, same old trustworthy as ever GOP.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, doesn't it Marianne and Pat? This Marianne. Two years on the outside looking in, now an insider herself and endorsement-cozy with one of the scornful insiders who'd been looking out; looking out to not "open the door for Paul manipulation."
Oh well ...
........................
update to the last update - the Stebbins-Anderson alliance might be more than a convenient shift - this Strib item suggests it goes back to May 2008, and that I might have jumped too quickly to a conclusion.
Does any reader have any insight to add via a comment or email? I am open to correction if I am in error. I invite it, if Anderson did strongly break ranks earlier over exclusion of Ron Paul people in 2008 - something I missed in first reading the linked Trice post, but there, with the link to the Strib item. Take this as a qualified correction. I would like reader feedback, one way or the other, to be more certain???
Domestic violence coverage is, or should be, a major part of the healthcare reform debate.
Again, Health Affairs as the source. This link.
The link allows downloading the fourteen page full item in pdf form. Here is the abstract and citation info, from the link, with a link there to download.
Presumably the GOP is satisfied with the status quo, here as elsewhere.
..............
Update - Aside from the post and the comments, we live in an imperfect world. This is what the Abuse Statute ought to have prevented. With all the tortured souls out there - us, in a way but certainly more extreme - some of them deserving protection are insufficiently protected while in other cases some mean-hearted bozo can abuse that statute and cheapen it. Misuse of the statute offends the entire world and should not be. But, as both comments indicate, people are imperfect and justice is imperfectly handled, with some trying to make it better and some consciously misusing laws, to make it worse. More important by far, however, is when sad situations we all know should be preventable, are unprevented, and the system fails in a manner as the Strib item reported. That is a far heavier weight on society than any abusive use of the statute could ever be, and we are fortunate if we avoid living in the kind of hell that leads to a murder-suicide between spouses of twenty-two years.
There have to be better ways.
The link allows downloading the fourteen page full item in pdf form. Here is the abstract and citation info, from the link, with a link there to download.
The Dangerous Shortage Of Domestic Violence Services
Radha Iyengar 1* Lindsay Sabik 2
1 Radha Iyengar is an assistant professor in the Department of Economics, London School of Economics.
2 Lindsay Sabik is a graduate student in health policy at Harvard University in Cambridge.
*Corresponding author.
Abstract
Domestic violence is a serious, preventable health problem affecting more than thirty million Americans annually, yet little is known about federally funded service provision. We used the National Census of Domestic Violence Services, an innovative victim-safety focused survey, to count services provided by more than 2,000 programs. During the twenty-four-hour survey period, 48,350 people used these services. The results show substantial unmet demand for services (10 percent of requests) because of resource constraints, particularly in rural, economically disadvantaged, and minority communities. Greater funding of domestic violence programs, particularly housing support, is likely to be a cost-effective public health investment. [>Health Affairs 28, no. 6 (2009): w1052-w1065 (published online 22 September 2009; 10.1377/hlthaff.28.6.w1052)]
Key Words: Consumer Issues, Health Promotion/Disease Prevention, Maternal And Child Health, Public Health
Presumably the GOP is satisfied with the status quo, here as elsewhere.
..............
Update - Aside from the post and the comments, we live in an imperfect world. This is what the Abuse Statute ought to have prevented. With all the tortured souls out there - us, in a way but certainly more extreme - some of them deserving protection are insufficiently protected while in other cases some mean-hearted bozo can abuse that statute and cheapen it. Misuse of the statute offends the entire world and should not be. But, as both comments indicate, people are imperfect and justice is imperfectly handled, with some trying to make it better and some consciously misusing laws, to make it worse. More important by far, however, is when sad situations we all know should be preventable, are unprevented, and the system fails in a manner as the Strib item reported. That is a far heavier weight on society than any abusive use of the statute could ever be, and we are fortunate if we avoid living in the kind of hell that leads to a murder-suicide between spouses of twenty-two years.
There have to be better ways.
I hope City of Ramsey officials take the lead in finding out details of the Bachmann VA Clinic siting situation.
The council and appointed officials have pushed to enliven the moribund Ramsey Town Center, going as far as buying the distressed remaining half of the acreage out of bank foreclosure. There is a VA outpatient clinic to be located in north metro.
The Elk River paper, Star News, reports:
Italics added. Playing favorites that way is yet more reason for Anoka County voters to reject Bachmann's reelection effort. And there certainly is cause for Ramsey officials, if they care to be reasonably inquisitive, to contact the Bachmann congressional office for a public explanation of what she has against Anoka County and City of Ramsey - why she is playing favoritism games during difficult real estate market times. Has she some kind of grudge? Is she that close to Mary Kiffmeyer and Mark Olson, fellow GOP uber-rightwing Sherburne County politicians?
What's up?
Mayor Bob, Administrator Kurt, are you there? Are you sleeping at the switch? Don't you care about this apparent unfairness? With two politically arranged past meetings in the competing area, and now a third one in Elk River with VA officials, but none in Anoka County, it sure appears as if something's afoot.
________UPDATE_________
An earlier version of this update is rewritten.
I spoke by phone to City of Ramsey mayor Bob Ramsey. One thing he said is he is positive the VA clinic planning and commitment has been years in the making, dating back to the Bush presidency years, and is not tied to stimulus bill spending.
I had written based on the premise that the VA outpatient clinic timing was related to stimulus policy.
After getting an email from Bob - identical to the comment he left to this post - things look more promising than my thoughts in the original post considered as a worse case situation. My hope that the City of Ramsey was on top of things proved true. Also the suspicion that there might be some Michele Bachmann motive in favoring Elk River with multiple meetings not held elsewhere was quelled, via a simple explanation.
Because some readers skip comments I am elevating Bob's text into an update:
It appears from what the mayor wrote and from the phone conversation that the VA staff is being allowed to make a professional decision based on its best discretionary judgment without politics too much at play.
I had thought the clinic spending - now - probably was tied to and the result of the Obama stimulus bill, and since Congresswoman Bachmann opposed that and voted against it I did not think it proper if six months from now she steps up and claims credit for something she did nothing of substance to fund. Her doctrinaire post-Bush intransigence against "earmarks" is well known; and a local VA clinic is precisely the kind of thing "earmarking," at its best, seems to achieve. Yet she apparently has not claimed to have been instrumental, either way, in the VA decision to site a clinic in the north metro. Nor was it earmarking. It was a VA agency decision based on demographics and having larger facilities in Minneapolis and St. Cloud without any more convenient outpatient care in between.
I think wrongly taking credit would be error and insult. And it would particularly be so, if a siting decision is made in six months and there is a groundbreaking ceremony where mere months before the election for Sixth District representation in Congress, Michele Bachmann were to step up and then loudly claim credit. Yet now, from the evidence I have, it appears unlikely that Congresswoman Bachmann is now claiming credit nor planning to later do so.
Ideally, without political pressures about siting behind the scenes and with each bidding site being judged entirely on the merits, and with the Ramsey officials vigorous in seeking a fair politics-free decision, the hope is that whatever site is chosen will be what's best for area veterans. And this appears to be the case.
If Bachmann supporter or ideally Bachmann staff insiders read this and have contrary evidence that Bachmann effort somehow was substantially more instrumental in clinic decision making within VA and in gaining clinic funding, I hope to receive an email or have a comment promptly added.
A hat tip again to Mayor Ramsey for clarifying details.
And if Congresswoman Bachmann is only impartially facilitating siting a clinic somewhere as the mayor's statements imply, and not playing favorites or looking to claim inordinate credit, a hat tip to her also for impartiality and restraint.
Given that there is current blog writing about naming one significant bill or other accomplishment Bachmann has done for the Sixth District since first going to Congress, I believe it is important that I clarify things as best as I understand them - that Bachmann has not been instrumental in funding or siting decision making by the VA in deciding to establish a north metro outpatient site somewhere in the north metro suburban area, but that she has acted to facilitate information flow via multiple meetings between concerned local communities, their public and their officials being able to converse with officials from the VA; and that this was done with local impartiality by facilitating arrangements for meetings at a convenient and proper venue in Elk River.
It appears my three concerns, that City of Ramsey officials were inattentive, that favoritism vs. impartiality might exist, and that Ms. Bachmann was poised to claim undue credit, have each been satisfied as not actually being the case.
My further understanding is that earlier there might have been premature VA indications that Elk River was closer to having the clinic than may be the case at present, with experiences the VA had in the Duluth area leading the agency to be more cognizant of wanting to hear all voices and to weigh all proposals before final siting; and that with differing persons within the VA having management oversight over time it has been a fluid and changing thing and will remain so until final decision.
It appears this was all internal to the VA and hinged on assessment of service needs and budgeting over time, since 2004 [as the quoted news report mentions], and the final decision and earlier decision making was and will be uninfluenced by local Sixth District politics. Nor should anyone outside of the VA claim any undue political credit for things.
Congresswoman Bachmann did oppose stimulus action, and has been vocal post-Bush about earmarks, however, this entire range of VA clinic decision making, from the evidence I have after speaking with Bob Ramsey, was never tied to the stimulus spending nor was it ever an earmark project.
BOTTOM LINE AS I UNDERSTAND IT: Veterans qualifying for VA care can thank the agency itself, independent of the Obama administration and those in Congress willing to pass stimulus spending or those opposing it, and veterans can thank Bachmann only so far as she may have impartially helped speed information flow in advance of final siting consideration and decision. But they should be thankful for that step.
................
I hope my blog troll posts something about not wanting to be taxed so that veterans can get healthcare - since it is consistent with all else she's put into comments.
Should I expect such consistency, or is it time for the troll to wave a flag?
Flag waving is something she does frequently, whenever convenient to her. Yet opposing publicly funded healthcare for specific earmarked groups is the position that would be consistent with her anti-tax, anti-government services worldview.
She cannot have it both ways, not in a consistently sane decision making world.
To the extent earlier speculation differs with this update, my reliance on information from the mayor, and its hanging together and making sense, makes me believe I had to rewrite this update, which I did promptly on learning what Bob had to say.
__________FURTHER UPDATE________
It would be remiss of Bachmann staff to not have a Google Alert set for "Michele Bachmann" and "Bachmann" and to comb the web for commentary and reporting to know what is there. The Bachmann campaign staff, locally, has to know what I have posted, this paragraph in particular:
My guess is the Congresswoman and staff will understand that there's no advantage to making any later excessive claim for undue credit beyond facilitating meetings and information flow assistance, which is not to be marginalized, but also is far from asserting there would have been no clinic but for Bachmann effort.
Should undue credit be claimed, it probably would be easy for the DFL challenger at that point to promptly and decisively debunk the notion, by press release and/or in debate. I would expect the DFL would pin down the VA history, with VA officials, well in advance of the final months of campaigning. I would expect nobody at VA would want to see the thing politicized, or to be politically used.
The Bachmann campaign has to already understand they lose credibility by overstatement.
The Elk River paper, Star News, reports:
[O]n October 1, area officials, leaders and veterans hope to learn a little more when U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., comes back to the Elk River American Legion to host another CBOC discussion.
The meeting starts at 2 p.m.
Elk River City Administrator Lori Johnson said since those interested in submitting bids didn’t need to get city approval, she’s not positive on who actually submitted bids.
The city offered letters of support on behalf of contractors and companies, but isn’t sure if the bids were ever submitted to the VA.
“We were in contact with about eight companies, she said, “but again we don’t know if they actually submitted,” said Johnson.
Bob Kircher, Anoka’s city community development director, said at the last city council meeting members reacted to developer Ryan Companies’ four bid proposals.
The Anoka County Board was also in on the action and endorsed Ramsey for the clinic months ago.
Throughout the entire CBOC process there have been a lot of unknowns.
It all started in 2004 when the comprehensive plan, called CARES, Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services, specifically named Elk River as an optimal site for the new clinic.
However, since then “Elk River” was changed to “northwest metro,” leaving lots of area veterans in the dark about where the new clinic would end up.
Then in May, Bachmann arranged for Steven Kleinglass, the director of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, to come to the Elk River American Legion and give veterans, along with county and city officials, some of the awaited information.
From that discussion it was learned the clinic would end up along the Highway 10 corridor between Anoka and Elk River, and rumors about a pre-selected Maple Grove location were somewhat put to rest.
A follow-up meeting also happened in July, where Kleinglass gave the same information, once again confirming the perimeters.
Italics added. Playing favorites that way is yet more reason for Anoka County voters to reject Bachmann's reelection effort. And there certainly is cause for Ramsey officials, if they care to be reasonably inquisitive, to contact the Bachmann congressional office for a public explanation of what she has against Anoka County and City of Ramsey - why she is playing favoritism games during difficult real estate market times. Has she some kind of grudge? Is she that close to Mary Kiffmeyer and Mark Olson, fellow GOP uber-rightwing Sherburne County politicians?
What's up?
Mayor Bob, Administrator Kurt, are you there? Are you sleeping at the switch? Don't you care about this apparent unfairness? With two politically arranged past meetings in the competing area, and now a third one in Elk River with VA officials, but none in Anoka County, it sure appears as if something's afoot.
________UPDATE_________
An earlier version of this update is rewritten.
I spoke by phone to City of Ramsey mayor Bob Ramsey. One thing he said is he is positive the VA clinic planning and commitment has been years in the making, dating back to the Bush presidency years, and is not tied to stimulus bill spending.
I had written based on the premise that the VA outpatient clinic timing was related to stimulus policy.
After getting an email from Bob - identical to the comment he left to this post - things look more promising than my thoughts in the original post considered as a worse case situation. My hope that the City of Ramsey was on top of things proved true. Also the suspicion that there might be some Michele Bachmann motive in favoring Elk River with multiple meetings not held elsewhere was quelled, via a simple explanation.
Because some readers skip comments I am elevating Bob's text into an update:
Eric,
I can find no evidence that the Congresswomen is playing any favorites. The reason that the meetings have been, and still are held, in Elk River is that they have an American Legion, which is considered neutral ground, and the meetings started there.
Believe me, we are not asleep at the switch. The city of Ramsey is well positioned. I am very happy with our chances in getting the clinic in Ramsey.
Thanks,
Bob Ramsey
It appears from what the mayor wrote and from the phone conversation that the VA staff is being allowed to make a professional decision based on its best discretionary judgment without politics too much at play.
I had thought the clinic spending - now - probably was tied to and the result of the Obama stimulus bill, and since Congresswoman Bachmann opposed that and voted against it I did not think it proper if six months from now she steps up and claims credit for something she did nothing of substance to fund. Her doctrinaire post-Bush intransigence against "earmarks" is well known; and a local VA clinic is precisely the kind of thing "earmarking," at its best, seems to achieve. Yet she apparently has not claimed to have been instrumental, either way, in the VA decision to site a clinic in the north metro. Nor was it earmarking. It was a VA agency decision based on demographics and having larger facilities in Minneapolis and St. Cloud without any more convenient outpatient care in between.
I think wrongly taking credit would be error and insult. And it would particularly be so, if a siting decision is made in six months and there is a groundbreaking ceremony where mere months before the election for Sixth District representation in Congress, Michele Bachmann were to step up and then loudly claim credit. Yet now, from the evidence I have, it appears unlikely that Congresswoman Bachmann is now claiming credit nor planning to later do so.
Ideally, without political pressures about siting behind the scenes and with each bidding site being judged entirely on the merits, and with the Ramsey officials vigorous in seeking a fair politics-free decision, the hope is that whatever site is chosen will be what's best for area veterans. And this appears to be the case.
If Bachmann supporter or ideally Bachmann staff insiders read this and have contrary evidence that Bachmann effort somehow was substantially more instrumental in clinic decision making within VA and in gaining clinic funding, I hope to receive an email or have a comment promptly added.
A hat tip again to Mayor Ramsey for clarifying details.
And if Congresswoman Bachmann is only impartially facilitating siting a clinic somewhere as the mayor's statements imply, and not playing favorites or looking to claim inordinate credit, a hat tip to her also for impartiality and restraint.
Given that there is current blog writing about naming one significant bill or other accomplishment Bachmann has done for the Sixth District since first going to Congress, I believe it is important that I clarify things as best as I understand them - that Bachmann has not been instrumental in funding or siting decision making by the VA in deciding to establish a north metro outpatient site somewhere in the north metro suburban area, but that she has acted to facilitate information flow via multiple meetings between concerned local communities, their public and their officials being able to converse with officials from the VA; and that this was done with local impartiality by facilitating arrangements for meetings at a convenient and proper venue in Elk River.
It appears my three concerns, that City of Ramsey officials were inattentive, that favoritism vs. impartiality might exist, and that Ms. Bachmann was poised to claim undue credit, have each been satisfied as not actually being the case.
My further understanding is that earlier there might have been premature VA indications that Elk River was closer to having the clinic than may be the case at present, with experiences the VA had in the Duluth area leading the agency to be more cognizant of wanting to hear all voices and to weigh all proposals before final siting; and that with differing persons within the VA having management oversight over time it has been a fluid and changing thing and will remain so until final decision.
It appears this was all internal to the VA and hinged on assessment of service needs and budgeting over time, since 2004 [as the quoted news report mentions], and the final decision and earlier decision making was and will be uninfluenced by local Sixth District politics. Nor should anyone outside of the VA claim any undue political credit for things.
Congresswoman Bachmann did oppose stimulus action, and has been vocal post-Bush about earmarks, however, this entire range of VA clinic decision making, from the evidence I have after speaking with Bob Ramsey, was never tied to the stimulus spending nor was it ever an earmark project.
BOTTOM LINE AS I UNDERSTAND IT: Veterans qualifying for VA care can thank the agency itself, independent of the Obama administration and those in Congress willing to pass stimulus spending or those opposing it, and veterans can thank Bachmann only so far as she may have impartially helped speed information flow in advance of final siting consideration and decision. But they should be thankful for that step.
................
I hope my blog troll posts something about not wanting to be taxed so that veterans can get healthcare - since it is consistent with all else she's put into comments.
Should I expect such consistency, or is it time for the troll to wave a flag?
Flag waving is something she does frequently, whenever convenient to her. Yet opposing publicly funded healthcare for specific earmarked groups is the position that would be consistent with her anti-tax, anti-government services worldview.
She cannot have it both ways, not in a consistently sane decision making world.
To the extent earlier speculation differs with this update, my reliance on information from the mayor, and its hanging together and making sense, makes me believe I had to rewrite this update, which I did promptly on learning what Bob had to say.
__________FURTHER UPDATE________
It would be remiss of Bachmann staff to not have a Google Alert set for "Michele Bachmann" and "Bachmann" and to comb the web for commentary and reporting to know what is there. The Bachmann campaign staff, locally, has to know what I have posted, this paragraph in particular:
If [a] Bachmann supporter or ideally Bachmann staff insiders read this and have contrary evidence that Bachmann effort somehow was substantially more instrumental in clinic decision making within VA and in gaining clinic funding, I hope to receive an email or have a comment promptly added.
My guess is the Congresswoman and staff will understand that there's no advantage to making any later excessive claim for undue credit beyond facilitating meetings and information flow assistance, which is not to be marginalized, but also is far from asserting there would have been no clinic but for Bachmann effort.
Should undue credit be claimed, it probably would be easy for the DFL challenger at that point to promptly and decisively debunk the notion, by press release and/or in debate. I would expect the DFL would pin down the VA history, with VA officials, well in advance of the final months of campaigning. I would expect nobody at VA would want to see the thing politicized, or to be politically used.
The Bachmann campaign has to already understand they lose credibility by overstatement.
I wasn't there, and if you were not either, you can watch the video.
This link.
This dignitary's autograph, reportedly from the event.
Any thoughts? Any reader out there, stocking up?
This dignitary's autograph, reportedly from the event.
Any thoughts? Any reader out there, stocking up?
Two contenders. One incumbent. Two email screenshots. One online jpg file.
image from here - click the screenshots to enlarge and read - links inoperative in screenshots, go to candidate campaign pages to contribute:
Clark - this link.
Reed - this link.
Contribute early and often. We want to send the turkey home.
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