After yesterday's rally celebrating the end of the 2008 elections and welcoming Minnesota's second Senator, Al Franken, Denise Cardinal, ABM's Executive Director, shared the following note:
Yesterday, a huge crowd of Minnesotans came out and joined Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, and Amy Klobuchar to finally welcome Minnesota's second Senator to the job.
In case you couldn't make it, here are a couple of photos:
Now that the wait for our second Senator is over, the real work begins. During Senator Franken's speech, he called on Minnesotans to keep organizing and to keep holding their elected officials accountable.
Well, Alliance for a Better Minnesota plans on doing just that.
Over the next few years, we are going to face many challenges -- including restoring the economy to make it work for middle-class families again, reforming our broken health care system, and solving the climate crisis.
We expect all of our elected officials, including Senator Franken, to fight for working families and not the special interests; to fight quality, affordable health care for every American; to fight for good-paying green jobs that can't be shipped overseas; and to fight for an education system that truly leaves no child behind.
It won't be easy, but with your continued support, we can rebuild the middle class and create a better Minnesota for working families.
Thank you,
Denise Cardinal Executive Director Alliance for a Better Minnesota
Health Americans Against Reforming Medicine (HAARM) held a rally this week -- ahead of Glenn Beck's announced tea parties happening this Independence Day weekend.
Much like the last set of tea parties, HAARM wasn't able to get the turnout they had hoped for, but they released a video, "Takin' it to the Streets," from the event. As SEIU's Jessica Kutch writes, "Never underestimate the power of conservative talking points to get a few laughs."
HAARM is a project of SEIU and Laughing Liberally. There's more at http://www.haarm.org.
To learn more about passing health care reform that ensures quality, affordable health care reform for every American, visit MakeHealthHappen.org.
Phew. It only took 8 months of counting to set up this one afternoon of non-stop Senate recount action, all of which ended with Minnesota finally getting its second Senator. Tomorrow, Minnesotans will be gathering to congratulate and greet our brand new Senator Al Franken, and we'd love if you all would join us. Here's the information:
The Fergus Falls Daily Journal reported the other day that library traffic is up in every way, from visitor count to the number of people enrolled in various programs. While part of this increase can be attributed to pick-up from summer traffic, libraries have always seen a boom during tough financial times. The catch is that there are fewer dollars available for library, and other recreational programs, funding. Although the library in Fergus Falls will stay open, it and many other libraries across the state must consider ways to save money, such as cutting staff and shortening library hours.
On a more somber note, Burnsville's Lake Alimagnet Center for the Arts, which has been open since the 1980s, will close its doors. This leaves the Burnsville Visual Arts Society, the Minnesota Valley Photography Club, the Chameleon Theatre Circle, and the Dakota Valley Symphony without homes. According to Stefanie Briggs of the MN Sun Newspapers,
The closing resulted from city budget cuts. The city is set to save $25,000 by no longer providing part-time staff support, utilities and maintenance to LACA. There are no future plans to use the building unless the city is able to find a tenant that can provide more market value rent to use the space, said JJ Ryan, the city's recreation manager.
What was once a communal gathering of different artists must now be split up in order for the various organizations to find homes. This is not an unique situation. Many parks, recreational programs, libraries, and beaches are feeling the pressure to cut all over Minnesota. For a map tracking parks and recreation cuts in Minnesota, head over to Defend Minnesota. While you're there, make sure to sign the petition sending a message to the Governor and his allies.
Folks across the country are concerned about the nation's failing health care system. To get a sense of how many Americans are concerned, take a look at the number of folks who tuned in to President Obama's health care town hall with 164 Americans from across the country.
ABC’s program continued into “Nightline” where it topped NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” and CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” in fast national data. The program averaged 4.25 million Total Viewers at 11:35pm, to Conan’s 3.66 million and Letterman’s 3.23 million.
And while more Americans than ever are worried about skyrocketing health care costs and the millions of Americans without insurance, Republicans in Washington continue to try to block health care reform. The call for real health care reform transcends party lines: 50% of Republicans back a strong public insurance option, and the GOP's fear-mongering tactics only demonstrates how out of touch they are with the views of the majority of Americans.
Denise Cardinal, Executive Director of Alliance for a Better Minnesota, released the following statement in reaction to the news of today's FEC ruling:
Now that the FEC has ruled on this matter, the people of Minnesota would like to know the truth about the FBI investigation and lawsuits concerning former Senator Coleman. We deserve to know if the allegations made in affidavits stating $100,000 was funneled by his friend and donor Nasser Kazeminy are true. Hundreds of Minnesotans submitted comments to the FEC on this matter, encouraged by ABM which filed complaints on the matter with the FEC, the FBI and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.
As Congress begins to hash out the nuts and bolts of health care reform, the government watchdog group Common Cause explores the connection between health care special interests and members of Congress.
The findings, which include the revelation that health care interests have donated nearly $373 million dollars to members of Congress since 2000 were detailed in a report released yesterday.
Some of Minnesota's legislators are among those with large financial ties to the health care industry.
The report found that congressman Kline received $252,050 from the health care industry since 2000. As the ranking Republican of the House Education and Labor Committee, congressman Kline will be in a key position to influence health care legislation.
In 2009 alone, members of Minnesota's congressional delegation have received $73,500 from the industry.
Here's a breakdown:
Rep. Michele Bachmann: $18,250
Rep. Keith Ellison: $6,250
Rep. John Kline; $2,250
Sen. Amly Klobuchar: $11,000
Rep. Betty McCollum: $13,550
Rep. James Oberstar: $1,000
Rep. Erik Paulsen: $6,500
Rep. Collin Peterson: $2,000
Rep. Timothy Walz: $12,700
A recent New York Times poll found that three out of four Americans support a public health insurance option, and it's crucial that your members of Conress hear from you. But, as in the case of Rep. Kline, the health care industry has spent years bankrolling the campaigns of those who are in charge of making health reform happen.
Minnesota is just under 1,800 people away from losing its eighth congressional seat, according Ryan Dolan, the coordinator for the State Demographic Center's 2010 census campaign.
We predict we’re 1,787 people away from losing the last seat. We have about 1,700 townships in the state, so if we miss one person in every township, we lose a congressional seat. That’s just one person in every small town in our state.
This is a significant loss of power to the state of Minnesota. We already know what if feels like to be one senator short. If we’re one House member short, that’s a whole quagmire we’ll be dealing with in redrawing the (apportionment) map.
About $300 billion is tied to the Census numbers every single year in federal money to the states. With the new administration, it’s nearly $400 billion.
Every person missed in Minnesota's census costs Minnesota $1,000 to $1,200 in federal aid.
Let's hope Michele Bachmann changes her mind and decides not to cost Minnesotans over $12,000 over the next ten years.
This morning, The New York Timesrevealed CitiGroup's plan to raise the salaries of many of its high-earning employees by as much as 50%.
Anna Burger, Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union released a statement in reaction to the news:
Color us skeptical, but not surprised: The top dogs at a company who took three taxpayer-funded bailout packages worth $45 billion, while wrecking the economy and keeping the bulk of its employees at near-poverty levels, have decided to reward themselves once more. Unfortunately, not all raises are created equal.
Citigroup needs to commit to give any new raises to front-line bank employees, who struggle just to make ends meet while dealing with the rising costs of healthcare, not top executives who have contributed to this mess.
America's big banks stand out as a startling example of an era of corporate excess that needs to come to an end if we're going to rebuild an economy with strength that can last. By passing the Employee Free Choice Act, we can begin to build an economy that doesn't just work for people in the top floor executive suites.
Last week, Governor Tim Pawlenty announced the first round of budget cuts and unallotments. He's been trying to play them off as no big deal, but his proposals don't fix the problems that lead to the state's record budget deficit.
Instead, his proposals cut jobs, throw Minnesotans off health care (while increasing premiums for the rest of us), raise taxes on renters, and make it harder for working families to send their kids to college.
Boot hockey tournaments, wild rice, state fair foods on a stick, Joe Mauer behind the plate and snoopy statues are just some of the things that make our state "above average."
On Tuesday, Governor Tim Pawlenty went after some of the core services that make up another great part of our state. He chose to cut thousands of people off of health care, slash aid to cities used for police and firefighters, and gut higher education instead of working with the balanced budget provided by the legislature. It doesn't have to be like this--we need to step up now to defend the Minnesota we all know and love.
Pawlenty didn't get us into this mess by himself. Pawlenty vetoed the balanced budget plan and every single state Republican supported him, leaving our state in a deficit. Then, Pawlenty headed to Washington, D.C. for a string of public appearances to stir up talk about his presidential ambitions.
Tim Pawlenty may be more concerned about his political future, but we need to let him know we expect him to represent the state that elected him.
We need all of our voices calling for a special session NOW to get Governor Pawlenty's attention. He needs to come together with the Legislature for a one-day special session. A special session could save tens of thousands of jobs, keep thousands of Minnesotans out of emergency rooms, and keep class sizes down across our state.
Join me in defending the "above average" Minnesota that we all love. Take action here.
Thanks for all you're doing,
Denise Cardinal Executive Director Alliance for a Better Minnesota
In a new web video, Heather Boushey, a senior economist at the Center for American Progress, explains why we need paid family and medical leave, what a program would look like, and how we could pay for it.
This post comes from our intern Stephanie... we'll have her account up and running soon, but for now it's posted here.
Photo Credit: University of Washington
The news on alternative energy sources in Minnesota recently has indicated the exciting strides Minnesota is taking in terms of solar energy and also highlighted how the alternative energy sector has not been invincible to the effects of the economic downturn.
A Minnesota state mandate requires that 25 percent of Minnesota's energy, including fuel, comes from renewable resources by 2025. Minnesota is now the leading wind energy producing state in the nation, according to the Star Tribune. The story describes how Minnesota legislators, Minneapolis and St. Paul mayors, alternative energy advocates, and Xcel Energy officials hailing the 2009 Legislature's enactment of a 33.4 million dollar package of financial incentives and policy changes aimed at spurring solar energy production in Minnesota.
The money the Legislature directed to solar energy is a portion of Minnesota's allotment of federal economic stimulus money. That means that a similar amount may not be available in 2011 and beyond --and that should make 2010 a very good year to go solar.
In contrast to this story of solar energy opportunities in the future, however, comes the fact that a southwestern Minnesotan company, Suzlon Energy, declared its plans to cut its workforce in half at the company's Pipestone, MN wind energy plant. Although Suzlon plans to lay off 160 employees by the end of September, Pipestone Mayer Laurie Ness says the silver lining is that the plant plans to stay open. This is significant given the fact that Pipestone has already seen a boat company close, costing the city more than 200 jobs.
National Wind, a Minnesota-based company, currently has six projects on the drawing board in Minnesota and seven more in nearby states.From MinnPost:
National Wind, which develops utility-scale projects (50 megawatts and over), sets up partnership LLCs with local landowners and other community leaders. Rather than stick turbines in the ground and pay farmers for the privilege (a typical lease might be for ,000 per turbine per year), National Wind establishes what looks a lot like a co-op and local farmers have an ownership stake in the business.
These projects are currently at a stand-still, waiting for the markets to loosen up. This is because, National Wind CEO Leon Steinberg explains, the cost of even a small wind project is 100 million dollars to 200 million dollars.
Renewable energy consultant Martin Pasqualini with CP Energy Group says money is tight throughout the wind industry. He says some of the biggest financial backers of the wind energy industry were also some of the biggest firms to collapse in the credit crisis.
Because of this, wind companies have run into increasing difficulties finding the financing to put up new electricity generating turbines and many alternative energy projects have been shelved. The falling demand for wind turbines not only affects the efforts to use alternative energy sources, but also means hundreds of workers will lose their jobs.
It is an encouraging sign that the Minnesota Legislature has recognized the need to fund alternative energy projects, such as the solar energy initiative, through the economic stimulus money. Indeed, Pasqualini predicts that the wind industry could bounce back next year should federal stimulus money continue to be dedicated to alternative energy projects. The stimulus money will kick start the stalling alternative energy sector, which in turn will create more jobs and possibly allow the people who have been laid off at companies such as Suzlon to return to work.
MinnPost recently reported that state funding for K-12 education in Minnesota has dropped an inflation-adjusted 13 percent since 2003. The effects of the lack of funding for education in Minnesota this year are widespread, forcing schools across the state to cut hundreds of thousands of dollars out of the budget, eliminate positions and programs, as well as consider operating levy referendums.
Litchfield Public Schools is in statutory operating debt (SOD), and between this year and next year will cut 700,000 dollars from its budget. This includes cutting four teachers, not buying textbooks, reducing supplies and substitute staff, cutting a bus route and increasing activity fees. This means Litchfield students will have more students in each classroom, fewer class choices, out-of-date textbooks and it will be harder to get to school and will cost more to take part in school activities.
Here's the kicker: Litchfield considers itself lucky. Voters approved a levy increase in May. With the levy, an additional 8,000 in cuts won't have to be made in the 2010-11 school year, said district Superintendent Bill Wold. That should be enough to get the district out of SOD and to a balanced budget.
While Governor Pawlenty has said that he plans to avoid making school budget cuts in his attempt to balance the state’s budget, he said that he will resort to funding “shifts.” The amount of these shifts has yet to be determined, but will delay some state payments to schools by a year. Such funding shifts are often seen as an accounting maneuver to make things look better than they actually are, but this smokescreen could potentially have harmful effects on the schools involved.
"Clearly, it does cause cash flow problems for school districts," said Scott Croonquist, executive director of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts. "The reality is it results in cuts for school districts."
So even though the Governor has said that he will avoid making school funding cuts, his creative problem-solving strategy of “funding shifts” will do just that.
Today oral arguments were finally heard in the State Supreme Court, moving us one step closer to having two full, real-life, United States Senators! For those of you who weren't watching the coverage over at the uptake, Rick Hasen, Electoral Law Professor at Loyola Law School was live blogging. He thinks that it is going to be tough sledding for Norm Coleman. A couple of points from his post:
4. The reason Coleman is having a harder time is that he's got a tougher road to success: a. The state Supreme Court is going to deter to the factual findings of the trial court, and those factual findings favor Franken. b. The state Supreme Court's existing precedent in terms of treating absentee ballots strictly as a matter of fraud-prevention favors Franken. A change in that standard now, as I've argued, would create a due process argument for Franken by constituting a change in the rules of the election after the fact. c. Even if the court accepted some of Coleman's arguments in the abstract---such as that there were some votes illegally counted by some jurisdictions (or alternatively, some ballots accepted under a looser "substantial compliance" standard)-- that doesn't mean Coleman would win his case. He'd have to show that there were enough problems to make a difference in the outcome of the election (a point the Justices expressed a great deal of skepticism about, in their discussion of the failure of the offer of proof). d. On the merits, the Justices mentioned ways of distinguishing other cases in which there were due process problems, such as when voters relied upon rules of the game that were changed later. There was an interesting discussion of whether Bush v. Gore eliminated the requirement that a challenger prove intentional discrimination to make out an equal protection argument. It was the only line of argument that I saw potentially helping Coleman, but it did not appear to be enough to overcome the Justice's skepticism.
Things aren't looking good for Norm once again. Head over to www.seatoursenator.com and add your name to the petition to seat our 2nd senator. For more information on the recount, check out the Star Tribune's recap, as well as the video recap from the uptake. We'll have more information regarding the court case as it comes along.
Tomorrow at 2 p.m, the Seat Our Senator campaign will hold a brief press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol, before delivering a basket of Iowa corn ot Governor Tim Pawlenty with a simple message: "the Iowa caucuses can wait, Minnesota needs you now.
Tomorrow's press event is part of ongoing campaign by Alliance for a Better Minnesota, MN AFL-CIO, AFSCME Council 5, Working America, SEIU MN State Council, Americans United for Change and others urging Pawlenty to do his legal duty and certify the U.S. Senate election results should Al Franken be declared the winner by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
The press release from Americans United for Change is below:
The latest effort by the Seat Our Senator campaign follows a recent television ad from Americans United for Change called ‘The Choice’ which aired in the Twin Cities and Rochester media markets and a billboard purchased on the SE corner of 94 and Snelling Ave. in St. Paul that both ask Governor Pawlenty if he will act in the best interests of the people of Minnesota that urgently need full representation in the U.S. Senate – or his own national political ambitions.
WHO: Alliance for a Better MN Americans United for Change
WHAT: “Seat Our Senator” Campaign to Deliver Basket of Corn and Message to Governor Pawlenty: “Iowa Caucuses Can Wait, Minnesota Needs You Now” / Effort Part of Ongoing Campaign Urging Governor Pawlenty to Do His Legal Duty and Certify the U.S. Senate Election Results Should Al Franken Be Declared the Winner by the Minnesota Supreme Court
Former Minnesota State Representative Dan Dorman (R-Albert Lea) has been a vocalcritic of Governor Pawlenty's plans to slash aid to local and county governments, saying it would affect communities' ability to offer basic public services and force local governments to raise property taxes and other fees.
The reality is that if the cuts were to go into place that are being proposed, you would see dramatic property tax increases," Dorman said, adding that, unlike the state, cities only have two options -- raising taxes or reducing services.
...
"If we can get enough people to put pressure on now we may be able to do something different beforehand to avoid really bad outcomes."
Dorman says, small cities could go bankrupt, lose police officers, park and rec programs, and see a rise in property taxes.
On his radio show last week, Governor Pawlenty called the city leaders from across the state "complainers" and told them to "stop whining" and start tightening their belts, a line Dorman says is disingenuous.
It's a little bit disingenuous when you say, you guys tighten your belts, when [the state] couldn't tighten its belt without these gimmicks.
LGA is what keeps communities across the state strong and propety taxes equitable, but under Governor Pawlenty's original proposal, cities will see a dramatic decrease in this funding on the heels of an LGA cut last December.
While the Governor was name-calling on his radio show, Alliance for a Better Minnesota and a coalition of labor groups aired the 8th in a series of radio ads featuring regular Minnesotans talking about the cost of Gov. Pawlenty's policies, which often put his political ambitions ahead of the needs of Minnesota's working families.
In the ad, a health care worker from Corcoran asks Governor Pawlenty "How does cutting hospital jobs, laying off cops, and shutting down nursing homes help Minnesota in this economy?"
President Barack Obama's nomination of Second District Appeals Court Judge, Sonia Sotomayor, has some wondering, as a question of legal process, who wil be successfully seated first: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor -- or Sen. Al Franken (D-MN).
The great majority of Minnesotans want Al Franken seated immediately if the Minnesota Supreme Court rules in his favor, but University of Minnesota professor Larry Jacobs thinks its possible that Pawlenty may try to use a decision against Coleman as part of his campaign for President.
We can't let that happen.
Go here to sign the petition telling Tim Pawlenty to put Minnesota ahead of his national political ambitions and fulfill his legal duties by signing Al Franken's election certificate.
Since taking office on January 20th, President Barack Obama has been making good on his pledge to open up government in new ways and new places.
In the video below, Macon Phillips, the New Media Director at The White House, highlights various new media efforts from across the federal government.
But whenever anyone tries to make Minnesota's tax system less regressive and more fair, the tea party crowd reverts to hysterical cries of "class warfare" or "socialism."
MN2020 took these accusations head on, and found that even if the wealthiest 5% paid the same effective tax-rate as working Minnesotans, their average after-tax income would still be ten times greater than that of the typical middle-income households.
So what would happen if the wealthiest five percent were to pay the same percentage of their income in state and local taxes as other Minnesota households? Would this constitute the class warfare regressive taxation apologists so fear?
Hardly. If the state and local effective tax rate of the wealthiest five percent of Minnesota households were to increase from 9.7 percent-what they actually pay based on the 2009 MTIS-to the statewide average of 11.2 percent, their after-tax income would fall from about $295,000 to $289,000. (This estimate probably overstates the after-tax income decline by ignoring the federal deductibility of the state and local tax increase.) The average after-tax income of the wealthiest five percent would still be approximately 10.0 times greater than that of the middle quintile.
The bottom line is this: if the wealthiest five percent of Minnesotans were to have a state and local effective tax rate equal to the statewide average, the average income of the wealthiest five percent after subtracting state, local, and federal taxes will be about10.0 times greater than that of a typical Minnesota household instead of 10.2 times greater.
Former Minnesota State Representative Dan Dorman (R-Albert Lea) has been a 
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