Almanac: At the Capitol

A new poll by Quinnipiac University of more than 1,000 likely voters in both Minnesota and Wisconsin was released Thursday with a surprising headline: Barack Obama led John McCain by just 2 points in the Gopher State (46 to 44... Eric Ostermeier

As the Post Bulletin noted yesterday, this amendment was anticipated to make its way into the legislation without much trouble. The Winona Daily News covered the story today in Interstate Bridge closure spurs Walz amendment to bridge bill:

Cities such as Winona could more easily mitigate the effects of critical bridge closures under a bill amendment proposed by Rep. Tim Walz, DFL-Minn.

A federal bill that would increase funding for America’s deficient bridges, scheduled for a vote today, could include a proposal by Walz to require the Secretary of Transportation to report to Congress whether a federal-aid bridge is closed because of a critical inspection finding.

The report, which would be due 15 days after a bridge closure, would assess and recommend actions to mitigate the impact of the closure on the local economy and transportation patterns, Walz spokeswoman Meredith Salsbery said.

From the congressional office:

WALZ AMENDMENT ADDED TO HOUSE-PASSED BRIDGE INSPECTION BILL
Walz provision ensures prompt federal response to situations like Winona's bridge closure

(Washington, DC) - Just weeks after the Highway 43 bridge in Winona, MN was closed, causing significant problems for local commuters and area businesses, Congressman Walz successfully added an amendment to a federal bridge inspection bill to help address some of the problems that arose from that closure. 

Walz's amendment to H.R. 3999, the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act, requires the Secretary of Transportation to report to Congress on the economic impact and affect on regional transportation patterns when a bridge is closed for emergency repairs.  Walz's amendment also requires the Secretary to suggest steps to lessen the impact of the economic and transportation problems that the bridge closure may cause.

"The sudden closure of the Highway 43 Bridge in Winona caused extreme hardship for many hard-working families, employers and businesses," said Walz. "People were faced with detours of up to 100 miles round-trip, which was especially difficult during this time of record-high gas prices.  In the first week alone, the bridge closure cost the city of Winona $95,000, which doesn't even begin to address the incalculable expenses that area residents and businesses incurred to navigate around the closed bridge. My amendment will help ensure that the Department of Transportation plays an active role in finding ways to lessen the economic impact and transportation problems that will arise from future bridge closures."

The National Highway and Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act will improve the safety of Federal-aid highway bridges such as Winona's Highway 43 Bridge, will strengthen bridge inspection standards and processes, and increase investment in the reconstruction of structurally deficient bridges on the National Highway System. The bill also revises national bridge inspection standards to provide for annual inspections of structurally deficient highway bridges, including biennial inspections of those bridges that have not been determined to be structurally deficient.

Walz's congressional office has issued the following statement about the emergency housing bill, for which the congressman voted yesterday:

PASSAGE OF EMERGENCY HOUSING BILL CRUCIAL TO SHORING UP MORTGAGE CRISIS
"The emergency facing our nation's economy warrants extraordinary action to protect the public's interest" says Walz

(Washington, D.C.) - Yesterday, Congressman Tim Walz voted for the most comprehensive housing bill yet that will assist families facing foreclosure keep their homes and help the economic recovery of local communities harmed by abandoned houses caught up in foreclosure. The bill passed the House last night with a vote of 272-152 and is now working its way through the Senate.   

To restore market confidence, the bill gives the U.S. Treasury Department emergency and temporary financing authority for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which hold or back half of the national mortgage debt and are about the only source of money still available for mortgage lenders.  Most Americans' primary investment is their home-and home values have plummeted by a record 15% in the last year.  Ending the foreclosure crisis is vital to the American economic recovery. 

"The American people know things are very serious when a free marketeer like U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a man who has long been a proponent of limited government, comes to Congress and the American people asking for immediate authority to step in and help address the deepening housing and financial problems strangling our economy," said Walz.   "From home foreclosures to sky rocketing gas prices, hard-working American families are being squeezed.  This emergency housing bill can help turn things around."   

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae hold guarantees for roughly $5 trillion in U.S. mortgage debt. To stabilize the housing finance market and make sure that affordable home loans continue to be available, the measure included in H.R. 3221 gives the Secretary of the Treasury stand-by authority in the unlikely case that the Government Sponsored Enterprises (Fannie and Freddie as well as Federal Home Loan Banks) require temporary federal financial intervention.

The Congressional Budget Office reports "There is a significant chance-- probably better than 50 percent -- that the proposed new Treasury authority would not be used before it expired at the end of December 2009."

"Let's hope the Treasury Department doesn't need to use this new authority," said Walz.  "But if conditions worsen the Treasury Secretary will have new financial tools to act in the public's interest."   

Additional measures in the bill would shore up the housing market and ensure the availability of affordable home loans, by putting in place a tough, independent new regulator in charge of the housing Government Sponsored Enterprises, which are vital to both the financial markets and American homeowners. 

Just in from the Walz Congressional office:

WALZ AMONG BI-PARTISAN GROUP OF LAWMAKERS PROMOTING COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS TO ENERGY CRISIS

Walz champions Wind Production Tax Credit bill as part of the answer

(Washington, D.C.) - Today, Congressman Tim Walz announced that he has been working with a group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers in an effort to develop a bipartisan, common-sense solution to America's energy crisis. 

Walz joined the House Energy Working Group, lead by Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) and Congressman John Peterson (R-PA), to promote a comprehensive solution to  the escalating energy crisis and address sky-rocketing gas prices facing Americans when they pull up to the pump. He has encouraged Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington to end the partisan bickering and finger-pointing on this serious problem.

"Whether in the military or in our public schools, I've found throughout my life that working together and finding common ground is essential," said Walz.  "So far, the leadership on both sides of the aisle in Washington has at times taken a partisan approach to addressing our energy crisis.  I'm not satisfied with that. This bipartisan energy working group is developing a more comprehensive approach.  As I have said before, I am open to expanding domestic drilling and increasing oil production at home in a responsible manner so long as it is a part of a short and long term strategy that includes conservation, speeds up development of affordable new fuels and cracks down on speculation.  I am championing my Wind Production Tax Credit bill to be a part of the comprehensive approach."

Walz continued, "As a part of our common-ground package, I'm encouraging my colleagues to consider the Wind Production Tax Credit bill that I introduced last year.  The bill expands the tax credit so that entrepreneurs and residents in rural America can join together to tap into American home grown ingenuity by investing in wind energy.  It is critical that our local residents reap the financial rewards as wind energy becomes a larger part of our nation's energy future." 

The House Bipartisan Energy Working Group is currently developing legislation.  Membership is comprised of rank-and-file Republican and Democratic Members who are committed to accomplishing one goal: A comprehensive, responsible energy plan for the American people.

The working group was formed in mid-July and had planned build its membership slowly.  More about the group here and here.  The author of the Hill article does seem to have confused the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) with ANWR.

Update: Walz's membership in the Working Group is noted on Rep. Abercrombie's web site.

Photo: Trimont Wind Farm.

 

I've written twice before on the Orwellian-named Employee Free Choice Act, which would make the heretofore voluntary agreement between workers and firms to use card-check systems (allowing a union to be recognized as sole bargaining agent for all workers if a majority of workers sign cards agreeing to be so represented) binding on firms who do not agree. Firms currently can request a vote to be administered by NLRB; those workers who do not wish to be unionized would have the opportunity, along with the firm, to argue why a union would not be in workers' best interest, and a vote would be held with workers' privacy protected by the NLRB. No such protections are provided under the proposed card-check program. Those who did not sign the card, or those who were not even approached by union organizers, would find themselves in a union, obligated to pay dues, without recourse, without a check or balance. The equivalent would be to imagine you waking one morning and reading in your newspaper that organizers had gone to other homes, had others sign a card that signified that they wanted King Banaian to be president of the United States, and that because they had enough cards signed, Banaian was now president without any further action required. You've never heard me talk, you don't know my views, but I now represent you on Pennsylvania Avenue. That'd be pretty bizarre, yes?

After the DFL accused the ad put out by the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (the TV ad was put out by them alone) of falsehoods, I wrote a letter to DFL state party chair Brian Melendez to invite him to debate the issue. We had recorded Al Franken answers twice to be sure we understood his views on the bill, and by their own admission Franken supports EFCA. So we assumed the debate would be on the merits of the bill. A discussion of the issue, I thought, might be a refreshing change to thirty-second ads.

So imagine my surprise last night to find out that the DFL would rather file a complaint. They'd rather debate through lawyers than in the state capitol. We are, of course, happy to have this debate any place Chairman Melendez chooses, but isn't it interesting that he needs to employ lawyers to assist his side?

We appreciate the coverage by the news and bloggers (Andy's post has both of the TV ads; I bet he watches them on his iPhone.) And we don't intend to go away; a new ad is running from us today.

A statement put out by J. Justin Wilson, managing director of the Employee Freedom Action Committee, said in a prepared statement,It appears that Mr. Melendez is complicit in the scheme to deceive the public and take away working Minnesotans’ right to a private ballot vote. The irony of Mr. Melendez’s ‘complaint’ is that he is the one who is misleading the people of Minnesota in order to advance a union boss’ power grab that will generate millions in new forced dues dollars.

If Mr. Melendez truly cared about the best interests of working Minnesotans he would reject these absurd political games and agree to a substantive public debate on the private vote issue.I reiterate that invitation, Chairman Melendez. I'm available almost any day in the month of August.

“The Quinnipiac poll also gives Republican Senator Norm Coleman a 15-point lead over DFL challenger Al Franken. The poll looks problematic for Franken, not only because Coleman leads him 53 to 38 percent, but also because pollsters say 20 percent of Minnesota Democrats plan to vote for Republican Norm Coleman.” Source: MPR, July 24, 2008 Click here [...]

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Veterans Administration’s RONA (“Release Of Names and Addresses”) Guidelines are clear, and here they are:

read more

At his recent press conference at a Shell station in Mankato, we heard Congressman Walz talk about the need to expedite exploration, drilling, and production of gas and oil in offshore areas and public lands that are already open and leased. Those areas should be tapped--along with other open areas not yet leased--before Congress lifts moratoria on other offshore areas. Walz called upon the president to "jawbone" oil companies to do more to extract oil and natural gas in leased areas.

Thus, yesterday's report from the U.S. Geological Services, Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal: Estimates of Undiscovered Oil and Gas North of the Arctic Circle [pdf format] comes as welcome news for those who want to encourage drilling in areas that are currently open.

That's because there is no drilling moratorium now covering any of Alaska's offshore areas that are at or above the Arctic Circle. Period.That's what we took away from looking at a map of the Alaska Coast [pdf] issued by the Department of Minerals Management Service and this map at CNN.

Just in case we were reading the document incorrectly (some news articles about the USGS report claimed that Alaskan waters were off limits), we called the public information office for the Alaska OCS Region of the MMS. Robin Cacy, a thoroughly professional spokesperson for the regional office, confirmed that none of Alaska's offshore water were off-limits because of either Congressional or executive edicts, although some areas had not been included in the current five-year leasing plan.

Since Alaska's arctic waters are open for potential leasing, we laughed out loud at this passage in the most recent Brian Davis attack release that a kind friend forwarded to us:

" . . . [I] am very encouraged by yesterday's report from the U.S. Geological Survey that estimates there may be up to 90 billion barrels of oil in the arctic that are in unexplored areas, mostly offshore."

Davis continued, "Congress should let the moratoria on offshore drilling expire on September 30 as scheduled and not renew it.  We are the only major industrialized country in the world that has the majority of offshore areas off-limits to oil exploration." . . .

Nice try, but the truth is that the American share of those 90 billions barrels are in waters where there is no ban on drilling (whether it will be economical to extract them awaits another report). News stories peg the American share of the resources at one-third, or 30 billion barrels.

We do see some faint progress on Dr. Davis's relation to the facts in his latest press release. While he told MPR a couple of days ago that:

"We are the only country in the world that does not allow off-shore drilling, and yet we're the largest consumer of oil and the third largest producer," he says

now he is able to recognize that some areas are indeed open for drilling (the MMS says that they contain all but 18 billion barrels of oil out of 80 billion barrels).  Perhaps he simply didn't understand that Alaska's arctic waters are open.

Who knows? Maybe Davis will be someday learn to look beyond the headlines, read government reports, check out the map, and call a government agency to double check the information. After all, it only took five years and exposure in the national and local media for him to figure out he has to go back to a work related automatic payment system that would make sure his property taxes got in on time.

That's a steep learning curve. And since the facts once more might get in the congressional candidate's NRCC sock puppet talking points, we're not holding our breath.

Image: Yes, sea monster, NRCC sock puppets are pretty alarming. Would they be less so if they could read a map?

A letter in this morning's StarTribune:

Regarding "Bachmann, back from Alaska, urges more domestic drilling" (July 23): U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann doesn't seem to understand the subtle difference between need and want (describing the untapped Alaskan energy resources as a locked pantry filled with food while children go hungry). Perhaps a better analogy would be a locked medicine cabinet filled with morphine in a room full of addicts.

Let's tend to the real needs of our children and provide a livable planet for their future that doesn't involve destroying our environment.

The difference between want and need is a source of great confusion in economics. Needs are necessary; wants are optional. In The Economic Way of Thinking, Paul Heyne, Peter Boettke and David Prychitko suggest for statements of "needs":

• The average person needs eight glasses of water per day in order to maintain optimal health.
• All citizens should be able to obtain the medical care they need regardless of their ability to pay.
• A diabetic needs insulin.
• You need to read your economics textbook.

The authors point out that all decisions are made at the margin, that all the values that matter are those at the margin. When I'm watching a baseball game at home and Mrs. S says "Who do you love more, me or baseball?" I answer "At the margin, baseball. And you're blocking the TV."

Foolish arguments like that advanced in the letter treat a marginal change as if it is an all-or-nothing choice. The choice about ANWR is not this at all. It is a decision to remove from preservation in undeveloped form a piece of land that might be 1.2 million acres (all of Area 10-02) or just 2000 acres (that part of the land designated for oil extraction) in return for an amount of oil about which we have imperfect information. The find might be small; that's the nature of oil exploration and extraction. It is a world of tradeoffs (the tragic vision I discussed earlier this week). Those tradeoffs reveal that what one might call a need is really just a want for a good with highly inelastic demand in the short run. Diabetics need insulin if they don't adjust their eating habits or use alternative health care. Those might not be great substitutes, but they are substitutes. You could list others, I'm sure.

Is a picture of an arctic scene equal to Area 10-02? Certainly not. But suppose I said you could have Area 10-02, another area of ANWR that has a very similar picture and no oil, or another area in ANWR and x billion barrels of oil. Is there no value for x that gets you to make that trade? I doubt it. I highly doubt it. If there are alternatives to oil, there are also alternatives to undeveloped land.

Scarcity is not optional; we do not live in a world where one can "tend to the real needs of our children" without sacrificing other goods for other people. People can provide for the "real needs" of pristine lands in a variety of ways, both public and private.

We call it the law of demand for a reason.

h/t: KAR, whose post is entertaining as well as educational.

DFL Senate candidate Priscilla Lord Faris has sent a letter to Al Franken requesting that he reconsider his decision to not debate. Please read the complete letter after the page jump. Dear Al, I am disappointed that your spokesperson has announced that you [...]

Shades of Reagan:

The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

The full text after the jump. And we’ll put up video when it’s available.

Thank you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany. Let me thank Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier for welcoming me earlier today. Thank you Mayor Wowereit, the Berlin Senate, the police, and most of all thank you for this welcome.

I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen – a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.

I know that I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father – my grandfather – was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.

At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning – his dream – required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.

That is why I’m here. And you are here because you too know that yearning. This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom. And you know that the only reason we stand here tonight is because men and women from both of our nations came together to work, and struggle, and sacrifice for that better life.

Ours is a partnership that truly began sixty years ago this summer, on the day when the first American plane touched down at Templehof.

On that day, much of this continent still lay in ruin. The rubble of this city had yet to be built into a wall. The Soviet shadow had swept across Eastern Europe, while in the West, America, Britain, and France took stock of their losses, and pondered how the world might be remade.

This is where the two sides met. And on the twenty-fourth of June, 1948, the Communists chose to blockade the western part of the city. They cut off food and supplies to more than two million Germans in an effort to extinguish the last flame of freedom in Berlin.

The size of our forces was no match for the much larger Soviet Army. And yet retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that stood in the way was Berlin.

And that’s when the airlift began – when the largest and most unlikely rescue in history brought food and hope to the people of this city.

The odds were stacked against success. In the winter, a heavy fog filled the sky above, and many planes were forced to turn back without dropping off the needed supplies. The streets where we stand were filled with hungry families who had no comfort from the cold.

But in the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city’s mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. “There is only one possibility,” he said. “For us to stand together united until this battle is won…The people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty. People of the world: now do your duty…People of the world, look at Berlin!”

People of the world – look at Berlin!

Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle.

Look at Berlin, where the determination of a people met the generosity of the Marshall Plan and created a German miracle; where a victory over tyranny gave rise to NATO, the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.

Look at Berlin, where the bullet holes in the buildings and the somber stones and pillars near the Brandenburg Gate insist that we never forget our common humanity.

People of the world – look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.

Sixty years after the airlift, we are called upon again. History has led us to a new crossroad, with new promise and new peril. When you, the German people, tore down that wall – a wall that divided East and West; freedom and tyranny; fear and hope – walls came tumbling down around the world. From Kiev to Cape Town, prison camps were closed, and the doors of democracy were opened. Markets opened too, and the spread of information and technology reduced barriers to opportunity and prosperity. While the 20th century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history.

The fall of the Berlin Wall brought new hope. But that very closeness has given rise to new dangers – dangers that cannot be contained within the borders of a country or by the distance of an ocean.

The terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American soil.

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all.

In this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone. None of us can deny these threats, or escape responsibility in meeting them. Yet, in the absence of Soviet tanks and a terrible wall, it has become easy to forget this truth. And if we’re honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart, and forgotten our shared destiny.

In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe’s role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth – that Europeans today are bearing new burdens and taking more responsibility in critical parts of the world; and that just as American bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom around the globe.

Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more – not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.

That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.

The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

We know they have fallen before. After centuries of strife, the people of Europe have formed a Union of promise and prosperity. Here, at the base of a column built to mark victory in war, we meet in the center of a Europe at peace. Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they have come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic found a way to live together; in the Balkans, where our Atlantic alliance ended wars and brought savage war criminals to justice; and in South Africa, where the struggle of a courageous people defeated apartheid.

So history reminds us that walls can be torn down. But the task is never easy. True partnership and true progress requires constant work and sustained sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens of development and diplomacy; of progress and peace. They require allies who will listen to each other, learn from each other and, most of all, trust each other.

That is why America cannot turn inward. That is why Europe cannot turn inward. America has no better partner than Europe. Now is the time to build new bridges across the globe as strong as the one that bound us across the Atlantic. Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It was this spirit that led airlift planes to appear in the sky above our heads, and people to assemble where we stand today. And this is the moment when our nations – and all nations – must summon that spirit anew.

This is the moment when we must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it. If we could create NATO to face down the Soviet Union, we can join in a new and global partnership to dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman; in London and Bali; in Washington and New York. If we could win a battle of ideas against the communists, we can stand with the vast majority of Muslims who reject the extremism that leads to hate instead of hope.

This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO’s first mission beyond Europe’s borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now.

This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and watch the further spread of the deadly atom. It is time to secure all loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to reduce the arsenals from another era. This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons.

This is the moment when every nation in Europe must have the chance to choose its own tomorrow free from the shadows of yesterday. In this century, we need a strong European Union that deepens the security and prosperity of this continent, while extending a hand abroad. In this century – in this city of all cities – we must reject the Cold War mind-set of the past, and resolve to work with Russia when we can, to stand up for our values when we must, and to seek a partnership that extends across this entire continent.

This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet. This is the moment for trade that is free and fair for all.

This is the moment we must help answer the call for a new dawn in the Middle East. My country must stand with yours and with Europe in sending a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions. We must support the Lebanese who have marched and bled for democracy, and the Israelis and Palestinians who seek a secure and lasting peace. And despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.

This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us resolve that all nations – including my own – will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere. This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one.

And this is the moment when we must give hope to those left behind in a globalized world. We must remember that the Cold War born in this city was not a battle for land or treasure. Sixty years ago, the planes that flew over Berlin did not drop bombs; instead they delivered food, and coal, and candy to grateful children. And in that show of solidarity, those pilots won more than a military victory. They won hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust – not just from the people in this city, but from all those who heard the story of what they did here.

Now the world will watch and remember what we do here – what we do with this moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?

Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words “never again” in Darfur?

Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don’t look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?

People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived – at great cost and great sacrifice – to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom – indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us – what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores – is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

These are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people – everywhere – became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation – our generation – must make our mark on the world.

People of Berlin – and people of the world – the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.

In this post, I mentioned Congressman John Kline's pork busting effort - one where you sign the petition to support, "enough is enough" and get control of US spending!

Today's Wall Street Journal notes on the Opinion Page, "Voters Want Less Pork, Even in Their Own District." As an active supporter of John Kline, I was glad to see this. Some letters to the editors slam Congressman Kline for taking his strong stand against pork. Turns out, this "get me my money" attitude represents the minority. Kline supporters are in the majority.

The Club for Growth recently conducted a nationwide poll on government spending, and the results were exactly the opposite of what most politicians have been saying for years. Voters are fed up with Washington's out-of-control spending. Bringing home the bacon is NOT what people want. Rather this earmark practice is simply funneling money to special interest groups, including local politicians. Voters want officials to cut the fat.

Survey Question: All things being equal, for whom would you be more likely to vote for the U.S. Congress: 1) A candidate who wants to cut overall federal spending, even if that includes cutting some money that would come to your district or 2) A candidate who wants to increase overall spending on federal programs, as long as more federal spending and projects come to your district?"

The results are unambiguous:
.............................Frugal..........Profligate
Voting Subset.......Candidate.....Candidate
General Voters.......54%................29%
Republicans..........72%................17%
Democrats............36%................42%
Independents........61%..............not specified
These results indicate the Democrat Party mantra of tax and control, raising taxes everywhere are NOT what we, the taxpayers want. Reminder, the MN legislature, now dominated by Democrats passed the largest tax increase in 150 years this past session. We pay more for anything and everything we buy, use, etc. Obama wants to increase taxes for all Americans, across the board.

People, it's our money and while we're telling "them" to stop, we also need to vote in people who will stop. As Kline indicated on his blogging conference call this morning, the Democrats in the US Congress have now decided that there will be zero appropriation bills because the Democrat chairman of the appropriations committee, David Obey, is afraid to address the real pork problem. It's time to hold them accountable. We have five spendthrift Congressmen in MN we could replace with believers in sound fiscal policy this fall - let's do it.

Parallel to the Republican National Convention (RNC) will be a Peace Island conference at Concordia University, St. Paul. Peace Island promotes and celebrates peace, justice, harmony, nonviolence and care of the earth. Two days of great national speakers, with three simultaneous sessions to pick from. A commons area will feature display tables from many organizations. The focus will be on on solutions instead of just describing the problems. The cost is $50, with a student discount.

read more

The Rochester Post-Bulletin picks up on the story about GOP-endorsed candidate Brian Davis's habitual property tax lateness.  This time, Davis excuses himself by saying that everybody does it:

Davis said he didn't think the issue would hurt his campaign.

"Apparently, there are several other candidates running for office in Minnesota who've had a similar problem. I think it's a very human problem, and I don't claim to be anything different from other people in that regard," Davis said.

Since Davis doesn't supply the details, we will. When it comes to property taxes, the issue has been brought up in Minnesota's Sixth.  Congresswoman Bachmann missed one payment, while her DFL and Independence Party opponent El Tinklenberg missed two--and his tardy payments came in 1999 and 2005. Both situations are in a different league than the Davis household's eleven late payments, one year after another.

Or maybe Davis is talking about some other candidate with a tax problem. Does his appeal to his own frail humanity signal a coming truce between the parties on this sort of issue? Or is he just finding another way to excuse himself?

The PB reports:

Brian Davis, the GOP-endorsed candidate who is challenging DFL Rep. Tim Walz for Congress, was late in paying property taxes on his Rochester home every year since 2003 and has paid more than $1,300 in fines, fees and interest to Olmsted County, property tax records show.

Davis' property tax delinquency came to light when Politico ran a story Wednesday highlighting candidates who failed to pay their property taxes on time. The story mentioned Davis, who records show paid tax penalties on his house every year from 2003-2007.

The story prompted the DFL Party to obtain Davis' public tax records and discover that Davis had also missed the May 15, 2008, property tax deadline. He paid his first-half taxes on June 17, along with an $86.80 late fee, property records show. The DFL posted Davis's tax records on its Web site.

We have pointed out that Davis's tax tardiness isn't an isolated bookkeeping bungle. His boffo bookkeeping during his abbreviated stint as Olmsted County Republican treasurer (paperwork for $13,000+ in contributions went missed; the mess was still being unsnarled at the time posted) and what looks to be his tardiness in paying a ticket for failure to register a vehicle. The lack of payment resulted in a suspended drivers license.

And then there's the serial exaggeration, use of discredited, dated or dubious sources to make his policy points, and wavering on energy subsidies for renewables.

Why are Southern Minnesotans being asked to support this fresh face? From the picture that's emerging, we'd have to guess that the "foo-foo dust" Senator Day ocassionally mentions in state senate debates might have been at work on the Owatonna Republican's misled pachyderm peers when they endorsed this clown.

Jonathan Kaminsky writes a great must read article, in Tim Pawlenty: Governor No. Governor Pawlenty shows through his vetos that he hates good government, basically falling in line with national Republican thinking, so he can be considered for the VP spot. Hard copies also available throughout the city. The article covers the astonishing 34 vetoes by Tim Pawlenty, more than any governor in Minnesota's history.

15. I was for improving health care before I was against it!

Last year, Pawlenty appointed a blue-ribbon commission to advise him on making health care coverage at once cheaper and better.

When the bill incorporating his own appointees' recommendations arrived at his desk, Pawlenty—you guessed it—vetoed it.
(Citypages)

This article is for the best article on news-not-covered of the year! Read it here!

read more

This bulletin board (see here for a review of the others) is at the entry to a set of offices for the Department of Social Work in my office building. Hundreds of students pass by here each school day. I do not know if this is the result of work in their classes, but it appears to be a composite of projects done by different individuals or groups. It is unlike the previous two boards.

The top image is of President Bush "wearing" a t-shirt that says "I [heart] Hugo Chavez", with fake currency around him. He is standing at a lectern with the presidential seal. The bubble quote over him was folded over when I saw it, so I held it up to take the second picture. It reads "Americans misunderestimated me! I approve raising the poverty line, increasing social welfare and implementing a living wage."

I would like to know the purpose of this particular course, if indeed this was coursework. If it's not, and it's on a departmental bulletin board, it's a bit worse as a statement about the values of social work programs. Perhaps this is a means to educate about the dispositions expected of majors.

The Star Tribune picks up on yesterday's Politico story in Candidate was late with property taxes, report says. Davis is elaborating on his "oversight":

Davis said Wednesday night that while he hasn't yet reviewed his tax records, he knows he has been late in paying taxes in the past and called it "an unfortunate oversight" for which he has no good excuse.

"I wish it hadn't happened, but I also emphasize that this wasn't a refusal to pay taxes, it was a matter of getting a bill in the mail, of not recognizing that it was a bill, and not paying it," he said.

Davis doesn't think it's important:

"It's the rare individual that hasn't missed a payment. . ."

We suspect that individuals who miss payments regularly and repeatedly are actually fairly rare. He then goes on to excuse himself by noting that his employer had once handled the matter for him:

Before 2003, Davis said, he and his wife used a system set up through work to have their property taxes automatically paid before the twice-a-year deadlines of May 15 and Oct. 15. That system was changed, he said, setting them up for the late payments.

"My wife and I are now reminded that it might be good to return to that status," he said.

That only took five years.

Image: Brian Davis has the money-- guess he just doesn't have the stamps to mail his payments. We know he doesn't like government much, but we recommend the Post Office.

According to a new poll released today by Quinnipiac University and the Washington Post, Senator Coleman is leading Al Franken, 53% - 38%.  The poll was conducted July 14 - 22. Coleman has a 23-point lead with men and a 23-point lead with independents. Coleman has a seven-point lead with women. The same poll showed Senator [...]

Al Franken has made it clear that not only won’t he debate Priscilla Lord Faris, but he intends to ignore her candidacy. Under most circumstances, that would appear to be a credible strategy. Yet these are not most circumstances.  For Franken, his political career is one storyline away from total collapse as his campaign continues to [...]

This new ad from Minnesotans for Employee Freedom is appearing in newspaper across Minnesota today. I’ll have more on this issue later today, including information about the DFL’s efforts to keep Minnesotans from seeing ads like the one pictured above.