Monday, November 29, 2010

Emmer racking up kudos

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer is racking up kudos from Mankato to Minneapolis.

On Saturday, The Free Press gave Emmer a thumbs up for basically saying he was going to be reasonable when it came to challenging the recount. He said he would make sure nothing extraordinary was happening and then if the margin is still fairly large, 8,700 votes or thereabouts, he would be done.

He went on to say that he wasn't going to put everyone through a futile effort.

Emmer also got a good 700- to 800 words of praise from Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman, who had much good to say about Emmer's sportsmanship. Many of Coleman's readers were at the very least surprised, and possibly some shocked, as he is not want to heap a lot of praise on many Republicans.

Coleman said Emmer "deserves great appreciation" and that kind of "leadership" is "rare."

Emmer has in the past been described a the bulldog of the Republican Party, especially when he was in the Legislature. But a long campaign for governor, hearing and seeing the hopes, wants and desires of average Minnesotans, may tend to have a calming effect on any candidate.

When I hosted the gubernatorial debate in Mankato, I thought one of the best and most sincere statements Emmer made came when he was asked to pick a former governor he respected. He said something to the effect that he respects anyone and everyone who has put themselves through a campaign and made sacrifices simply because they believe they can make the state better for future generations.


 Emmer's recounts statement has hints of those beliefs. Good for him.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Talk about a death panel!

Here's some info on the fact sheet for a government health care program.

Let's see if you can guess where it comes from and which political party approved this.

This was a letter sent to people who are enrolled in a government-sponsored health program based on need and eligibility

"Why am I getting this letter?"

"The way you get your health care services is changing. Starting June 1, only certain hospitals will give
you services."

"What does this change mean for me?

• Services you are currently getting may not be covered.
• You may need to go to a different doctor or clinic.
• Services by this group of doctors is limited and there may not be one in your county.
• If you do not choose a group the government has required, your coverage is limited to prescription drugs.

You may have to pay for other medical services including the doctor visit to get a prescription."





So, in essence, you won't get to choose your own doctor

Some services might no longer be covered.

There may not be a approved doctor in your county, so you'll have to travel.

And if you don't like the government's choice of doctors, you're out of luck.

I point this out only because these were almost identical to the fears raised with the national health care reform put out by Democrats last year.

I've always believed when the so called "death panel" talk came out as Congress was debating the health care reform bill, that it was pure and unmitigated B.S. from the start. We won't go into that here.

But what most people don't realize is that there are instances happening at state and federal level that will restrict what doctor you can see and de facto put government and insurance companies in control of your medical care.

Like the example above: They are the actual rules for the General Assistance Medical Care program approved by Republicans and Democrats in Minnesota. To be fair, Democrats had proposed a program that would cover more and cost more. Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed that in lieu of the a program that cost less and covered less.

However you see the issue, clearly, when government pays your medical bill, they're going to have something to say about the care, which doctors you see.

This should be a reality check for all of us.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Fireworks at the Supreme Court and other incendiary reports

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled quickly and decisively 5-zip against the first, and so far only, challenge by the Tom Emmer campaign to the gubernatorial election results.

A MinnPost report by Jay Weiner again is the credible and interesting report I am relying on. He even offers a little "dark and stormy night" drama in this one. Hey, it's one way to make public affairs reporting interesting!

What I found interesting about the ruling was that it was issued without an opinion, so as "not to impede the orderly election process." The court seemed to be hinting that another challenge might have to really provide earth shattering new information, or the court, mostly Pawlenty-appointed, would reject that as well. Just my guess, though.

In my opinion, any further challenge without such significant backing will come off as frivolous to the judges, and when judges think you're wasting their time, the don't get mad, they get even, or they get mad and even.

I've seen many a judge use the rule that "their impartiality ends where your frivolity begins."

News reports called the ruling from Pawlenty-appointees "terse." Maybe it's payback for Emmer who called them "activist" last year after they ruled Pawlenty's unallotment was illegal. Pawlenty was kinder but said the ruling was "unwise."

Republicans challenge at their peril here. As I mentioned in Wednesday's editorial, "voters can forgive politicians for a lot of things, but not for denying them the right to have their vote counted." Any challenges from Emmer, at this point, seem to be playing with fire near a propane tank.

There's some sound reasoning behind a recount of votes making a difference with regard to the Emmer petition and several counties filed information to that effect.

Recount wouldn't stack up

Here's the good info from a solid Pioneer Press report on the issue by Jason Hoppin.

Noteworthy is Blue Earth County's own expert Patty O'Connor, election director.

 In Anoka County, election judges were able to reconcile the ballots in all precincts but one. Out of 131,700 votes, officials said there was no evidence that the sole extra ballot was cast by anyone other than a legitimate voter.

In Ramsey County, officials said there were just five unexplained ballots out of more than 192,000 cast but that there was no reason to toss out those five.

In Hennepin County, Minnesota's largest, officials found discrepancies in 15 precincts for a total of 22 ballots and said they would work to resolve the discrepancies but did not want to throw out votes.

Together Anoka, Hennepin and Ramsey County cast nearly 800,000 votes in the Nov. 2 election, or about 39 percent of the statewide total. With Emmer needing to close a nearly 9,000-vote gap, they found just 28 unexplained ballots between them.

Some local officials contacted by the Pioneer Press said they also have found few extra ballots. Officials in Goodhue County, which follows the procedure sought by the GOP, found discrepancies, but none that could not be explained. And Carver County officials found only a few extra ballots but said they appeared to be caused by election judges themselves forgetting to sign the register when they voted.

In an affidavit, Hennepin County election manager Rachel Smith argued that counting voter receipts is actually a more accurate way of tallying voters than counting signatures, calling the method "universally preferred."


  • That was backed up by others, including Blue Earth County Auditor Patty O'Connor, who said the problem with counting signatures is that voters sometimes don't sign the register, even though they are required by law to do so.

    "You have to remember, I'm in outstate Minnesota, where we all know each other," O'Connor said, adding that it's easy to forget to follow the letter of the law when chit-chatting with a friendly face. "The wife signs and the husband doesn't, and off they go."



  • Friday, November 19, 2010

    Hoping to bring great budget debate to Mankato

    I'm hoping to convince the Citizens League of Minnesota to bring one of their intriguing budget debate meetings to Mankato in the near future.

    The Citizens League, a non partisan and credible research group, has through a grant with the Bush Foundation set up some 30 plus meetings around the state, in small towns and big, to gather citizens for a night of discussion on how to solve the state's estimated $6 billion budget deficit.

    There's a good report on one of the recent meetings in MinnPost.

    I recently spoke with Citizens League Executive Director Sean Kershaw and when I saw he didn't have Mankato on the list for a meeting, I recommended we get one. I told him I believe Mankato was a community that could be very engaged in this process and he'd get a good turnout.

    He sounded like he was going to pursue it. I spoke with him at a recent meeting of the University of Minnesota Frank Premack Public Affairs Journalism board, of which we are both members.

    The Free Press will do everything it can to help bring about this meeting, including participating in it and publicizing it. I'm hoping to hear back from Kershaw soon. Will update when I know.

    Thursday, November 18, 2010

    Essential news and analysis worth reading

    There's a solid analysis by MinnPost reporter Jay Weiner on the current gubernatorial recount effort and the Republican lawsuit.

    Weiner of course wrote award-winning stories on the Coleman-Franken recount and now has a book out about it called "This is not Florida."

    His piece in MinnPost is a solid and enlightening analysis by a journalist who had in-depth knowledge of this issue and the complicated legal proceedings that can surround it. You'll get a feel for the likelihood of success for the GOP court challenge.

    He also talks to Blue Earth County's own Patty O'Connor, longtime elections director and on the board of the statewide election officials organization. She provides some interesting insights on his own.

    He also provides lots of links to past rulings, current court statements and basically everything you need to understand and get up to speed on this issue.

    What I like about Weiner's journalism is that he digs deep into places others don't even know about -- Minnesota administrative rules on elections, for example.

    Cal Thomas agrees with me, and other thoughts

    Free Press conservative columnist and Foxnews contributor Cal Thomas agrees with me on a number of things.

    He writes in his column in Thursday's Free Press that "Individuals who make wise decisions, care for themselves and refuse Social Security and Medicare (which should be means tested), should get tax breaks."

    I'm all for the tax breaks for people who can show they won't be a burden on government, but more than that, I'm all for making Social Security and Medicare means tested. Bill Gates shouldn't be eligible. Nor should Warren Buffet, who actually probably wouldn't mind, but as long as these folks have a free gift handed to them, why wouldn't they take it.

    Actually, Social Security is kind of means tested now, those who mean to retire 30 years from won't get it, or will get much less than anyone who's getting it now. But, it is basically a welfare program, so if we're trying to provide things to people who need them, let's make it dependent on income.

    The flip side of the tax breaks for people who take care of themselves, it a reduction in tax breaks for corporations that cost us more money. Thomas agrees with me on this too, as he has endorsed the federal spending cuts and reduction of tax breaks advocated by the Heritage Foundation.

    Of course, Cal doesn't have to run for office, so he can go around saying things like that. I've not heard it from anyone who has a real stake in the game, but we'll be watching closely the new powers that be in Washington.

    Bush popularity likely rising

    Today's Free Press editorial gives due respect to President George W. Bush for the tales in his recent book, and his willingness to accept responsibility and talk plainly about some of the mistakes and successes of his presidency.

    I watched NBC's Matt Lauer interview W. and will say it's the most impressed I've ever been with the former president, mainly because he acknowledged his mistakes, and took full out responsibility for the bank bailouts saying anyone who believes Obama started the TARP program is dead wrong.

    He said he believes in free market principles, but when experts told him the banking system could collapse and create a depression, he believed them and did what he believes was the right thing by authorizing TARP.

    That action is the essence of what we should expect our presidents to do. It's sometimes lost on the angry crowd of  "low information voters." (I like that term).

    He also showed great respect for the presidency by refraining from criticizing Obama. I think he knows Obama is doing a pretty good job. Whenever you've been there, you're a little more reluctant to throw stones. We can't say as much for the former vice president.

    Good job, W. :)

    Wednesday, November 17, 2010

    GMG Hall of Fame: a big crowd, compelling stories

    The Greater Mankato Growth Hall of Fame awards banquet at the Verizon Center last night drew one of the biggest crowds ever, filling dozens of tables in the main ballroom.

    The local chamber group has expanded its array of awards this year that included some "design" awards, recognizing business projects that add an interesting and attractive physical aspect to the community. That was a nice addition for recognition. The way a city looks says a lot about the commitment of its business owners and city leaders.

    This list of award winners can be found on The Free Press website, along with Tim Krohn's coverage.

    Here's some videos of top three award winners that are short and worth watching.

    There were, as always, many great stories about people starting out in business. Many had very humble beginnings and just worked liked crazy to make things happen.

    It was very clear listening to owners speak about their businesses, that they all had one thing at the top of their list: serving customers. Many did not dwell on their own expertise or their staff's acumen, but thanked the people in the room and the community at large for being their customers.

    It was also great to see that the Hall of Fame Inductees - the Abdo, Eick and Meyers Accounting firm and Mankato Independent Originals started as small family businesses. You often hear how chains or big box retailers can have such an advantage over small homegrown businesses, but that is clearly not the case with these two winners.

    Mankato Independent Originals - Patrick and Chris Person and Tasha O'Hara - run four independent unique restaurants, including Neighbors, Dino's, Tav on the Ave. and Number Four. Their business started with Pat and Chris's parents, Adrian and John Person who for years ran Adrian's restaurant.

    The Abdo firm was founded by longtime Mankato businessman Joe Abdo, who started out working for another longtime family business - Schwickert Hardware store.

    All in all, it was a solid event and business winners were no doubt an inspiration to those in attendance.

    Tuesday, November 16, 2010

    News I'm watching, thinking about

    There was a very intriguing interview with former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Larry King Monday, Nov. 15.

    It will be worth your time to watch it.

    Some highlights: Obama should've focused on economy before health care before anything else. President is doing a good job on economy but hasn't communicated it very well.

    Powell says he's a moderate Republican, which means for small government, strong national defense and help the people who need help as much as is necessary.

    We need to provide Pakistan more help, more tools to root out Taliban. Afghanistan President is increasingly in a tough spot. Bin Laden may be alive, but he's not operating as normal, he's hiding, so he can't be anywhere near as effective as he was when he orchestrated 9/11 attacks.

    When King asked Powell if he was ticked by being misled about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, he gave a mad-as-hell sounding "yes." But said many, many intelligence agencies were saying it was true and he spent 4-days at CIA headquarters going over the information, asking questions about its veracity every way he could.

    Asked if he's talked to Rumsfeld or Cheney lately, he simply said "No," abruptly ending answer. King chuckled and said "Well said."

    Powell said new Republicans are kidding themselves if they think they can balance the budget without raising some kind of revenue. He noted they're asked often what they would cut and no one can come up with the answers.

    King suggested others were pushing Powell to become Obama's chief of staff, to which Powell said, "I haven't been asked and I don't want to work in the government. I worked in the government for 40 years" etc..But he did say, when the president asks, you have to at least listen.

    Monday, November 15, 2010

    Here's my problem with George Will

    Conservative columnist George Will is one of the best conservative minds around, and as far as columnists go, he can be pretty compelling a lot of the time, even if you don't agree with him.

    I don't have a problem with the content of his opinions from time to time, but he does have a tendency to sometimes state his opinions or analysis as fact. It reminds me of  Daniel Patrick Moynihan's longtime quote "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."

    Such a stating of opinion as fact is one of my pet peeves. It annoys me because stating opinion as fact is misleading and wrong and most importantly, intellectually dishonest. I don't let Free Press letter writers get away with it.

    So, I will take George Will to task for a column in Tuesday's Free Press.

    Will's opinion stated as fact: "Card check legislation would make it easier to herd private sector workers into unions by abolishing the right to secret ballots in unionization votes."

    Will's intellectual dishonesty comes in the phrase "abolishing the right to secret ballots in unionization votes."

    The card check legislation does not "abolish" the secret ballot. Rather, it allows those organizing unions two options when organizing a union vote. It allows them a new option known as the card check. In other words, they could simply ask employees to vote up or down on a union by using a card, yes or no. If 50 percent of workers say yes, the union can be established.

    However, they can also request a secret ballot under the card check law.

    When Will says the law would "abolish," one takes that to mean "abolish the secret ballot in every and any case." But that's not the case, as reported below by Politifact, a division of the St. Petersburg Times newspaper that both political parties often use to back up their facts.

    In 2009 when the Card Check issue was hot, (it never made it anywhere), here's how Politifact described it:

    "Here's how union elections work now:

    Union organizers try to get employees in a particular business or unit of a business to sign cards indicating they want the union to represent them in negotiations with the employer. The employer is not permitted to see the cards before they are turned in to the National Labor Relations Board — or often even after that — or engage in any other kind of surveillance to try to discern which employees are union adherents and which are not.

    If more than 30 percent of the employees sign, the union can ask the National Labor Relations Board to conduct an election. If more than 50 percent sign, the employer must either accept the union or ask the board for an election.

    Most employers ask for an election. It takes place a few weeks later at the employer's place of business. It's a secret-ballot election and is run by the National Labor Relations Board. If a majority votes for the union, the union wins.

    Here's what would happen under the Employee Free Choice Act:(or Card Check).

    Just like before, if unions got more than 30 percent of the employees to sign cards, they could ask for a secret-ballot election. But if they got more than 50 percent, the union would win automatically. The employer would no longer have the right to insist on a secret-ballot election and would have to negotiate with the union. 

    "Decertification" elections, where the employees vote on whether to cease being represented by their union, are currently secret-ballot elections, and would continue to be under the Employee Free Choice Act.

    As a practical matter, secret-ballot elections would be far less frequent if the Employee Free Choice Act were passed. But they would still take place under certain circumstances: during decertification contests, or on the occasions where unions won the support of more than 30 percent but less than 50 percent of the employees (but unions don't generally ask for elections unless they have the support of more than half).

    There would also continue to be secret-ballot elections in instances where a majority of employees say they want one. That is, where more than 50 percent of the employees sign cards requesting a vote on unionization rather than cards saying they want a union to represent them."


    Here's the whole Politifact article

    So Will appears unwilling to go into the nuances and would rather just state his opinion as a fact.

    I'd be much more comfortable with him if he just said "Card check HAS THE EFFECT of abolishing secret ballots." That's much more of an honest argument and it lets the reader know there is a nuance here, and maybe someone might have another take on this.

    That would be more intellectually honest.

    In fact, Politifact, when assessing a similar statement on Card Check by Sen. Arlen Specter decided what he was saying was "mostly true." But that's still not absolutely true, as Will would have well-meaning Free Press readers believe.

    Friday, November 12, 2010

    Deficit commission and your money

    The federal so-called deficit commission captured a lot of headlines this week when the bipartisan group put out a draft proposal with something for every American to dislike.

    Tough choices on Social Security, Medicare, defense spending, entitlements and taxes, both individual and corporate. I think it is the most courageous political act I've seen in decades and I applaud co-chairman former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson and former Clinton Chief of staff Erskine Bowles.

    A lot of my colleagues in the media write their stories with a cynical edges noting by themselves or others, often unnamed, that it "will never pass."

    They're right, the first draft proposal won't pass, but I believe something will, something that is substantive, fair, bipartisan and tough.

    The chairman freely conceded that this was going to be tough on a lot of Americans but they also said we have a history of a willingness to sacrifice when we know our country will be better for our children.

    And that's exactly what will happen if some of this stuff is passed. Really. You heard it hear first. I'm optimistic.

    Here's a link to the report. It's 50 pages, but don't let that scare you, it's done in powerpoint-style big type etc.

    Thursday, November 11, 2010

    Talk issues with us on Facebook

    Hey everyone in Katoland, we're trying to engage our community and you a little bit more as an effort to make everything we do more interest and exciting for our readers and divergent and civil voices.

    Go to our Facebook page for our take on news of the day and tell us what you think about it. Talk politics, city hall, county board or give us suggestions for covering a story.

    We know that it's not possible for 25 people in our newsroom to be smarter than the 60,000 or so people who live in this well-educated community. So give us your ideas, comments, off the cuff remarks.

    You can go here for our Facebook page or to our home page and click on our Facebook inset on the lower right. It can be an intriguing and enlightening conversation at times.

    Hot topics our Facebookers (is that a name?) are commenting on include Blue Earth County new administrator search, sex assault at MSU and what can be done, Vikings and the Brad Childress saga as well as bonuses, or compensation, for university presidents in these tough times.

    Join the party. Engage us!

    Wednesday, November 10, 2010

    Calling Mankato Home diversity event packed

    I was very happy to see the standing room only crowd at The Free Press/Minnesota Public Radio event on diversity at Minnesota State University Tuesday night.

    The crowd was at least 300 in my estimation, and many community leaders showed up as well as a good cross-section of the diverse community. It was standing room only.

    It was a continuation of Free Press efforts to shed light on the issue of diversity in our community. One by one, Sudanese, Somali, and others from the diverse community and ordinary Caucasian citizens stood up and talked about what Calling Mankato Home means to them, and just how welcoming we are as a community to people of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and sexual orientations.

    There were many positive stories, but also some stories of discrimination and disrespect. A Mankato high school young lady had her hijab ripped from her head and teased about it when she was at school one day. A longtime Native American talked of how the adoption agencies described him as someone no one would want.

    But on balance there were many positive stories. It was good hearing from AmeriPride Production Manager Tom Blaido talk about all the people of color his company has hired as a proactive effort. Others like Abdi Sabrie couldn't say enough good about how welcoming a place Mankato has become.

    I was asked to sum up the evening and suggest things I've learned or taken from the conversation.

    Here's what I came up with:

    I hear a lot of hope in the voices of refugees and immigrants who spoke. They want to stay in Mankato and will do so, if they can find employment.

    The community needs to be proactive in "opening our circles." I heard this from the schools, from the university people and the newspaper. Many in the diverse community will not come forward to participate in our community if they do not know the door is open.

    Mankato can be not exactly welcoming but "not mean" to diverse people. That's not good enough. We have to do better at welcoming. We have to do better than "not being mean."

    We can understand diverse people if we just listen to them a bit. Where they come from, things are different. A visit by police in the Sudan or Somalia may mean you're never heard from again. It's reasonable to expect they will have trepidation in dealing with police in America then.

    We have to be proactive about developing a culture that is accepting of diverse people. We can't turn on a switch. It has to be ingrained in our mindset.

    The term "Home" is a universal concept. If we want people to "Call Mankato Home" we have to help them find things that are homelike -- good friends, accepting people, comfort in social settings, employment that can sustain a family.

    I heard from a lot of community leaders that this conversation turned out great, and we received thanks for hosting it. It is simply the kind of thing The Free Press wants to be associated with. It's our brand. Community leadership, civil discussion of the issues.

    Lul Ahmed, a Somali woman who is part of The Free Press advisory board, said she didn't hear anything really new at the meeting, but she was glad that many more people were in on the message.

    MSU professor Tony Filipovitch said there may not be a lot new, but it was important we were finally maybe having the discussion "with each other," thereby raising the overall community awareness.

    It will provide another springboard for continuing Free Press coverage on the diverse community. You can participate in that coverage by giving us your feedback. Hopefully it will raise awareness that we can really grow this place to be even better than it is.

    Friday, November 5, 2010

    I wish the Fed would stop controlling my life

    The Dow Jones Industrials rocketed 2 percent higher on Thursday and moved ahead again Friday to finish at 11,444, the highest since September 2008, just before the financial crisis-crash.

    The Wall Street Journal and other credible publications attributed the rise to "the Federal Reserves plans to spur the U.S. economy" by buying $600 billion worth of U.S. Treasury bonds that "helped fan fresh rallies in oil, gold and Asian stock markets."

    The move helped push down interest rates caused American companies like Coca Cola and Dow Chemical "racing" to sell $12 billion in new debt.

    But this kind of interference is just another example of government getting too involved in our personal lives. My kid's college fund what up so much it was detestable. I would rather take my jolts without the Fed's unwarranted and unwelcome intrusion into my personal finances.

    If we were this "fair and balanced" 
    our readers would be burning our building down.

    A column by Dana Millbank of the Washington Post has me trying to figure out why people call the Foxnews network fair and balanced.

    He cites a number of Fox news employees taking sides in the recent  election coverage.

    If Free Press reporters even came close to any of this kind of behavior, our readers would be burning our building down, and, by the way, the reporters would be fired.

    Wednesday, November 3, 2010

    What goes into an election night in the newsroom

    The Free Press newsroom is recovering from a wild election night that taxed staffers for hours and at the end had reporters filing stories to editors every five minutes.

    That led to more than 40 election stories being posted to our online website as the results began coming in at about 8:30 p.m. It also led to updating those stories several times during the night and producing several additional stories to publish in one print edition that rolled off the presses at about 1:45 a.m. and another so called "remake" with more final results rolling off the presses about 2:30 a.m.

    In between we chased down politicians for quotes, pictures and their reaction to their winning or their losing.

    In the days before newspapers had online sites, this kind of a night was a bit less hectic. But now we must produce our product on several "platforms" or places readers want to go to find news.

    To that end, we were putting short headlines and updates on our Facebook site, that by the way, is automatically connected to our Twitter site.

    The effort was one of high quality for a gargantuan task, and I'm proud to be associated with our team.

    Readers, print and online, Twitterers and Facebookers were served.

    The traffic to our website Tuesday and Wednesday totaled over 120,000 page views, usually the normal amount of traffic for four days.

    But the presses ran, the microchips hummed and Democracy was served.