Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary?

The title of this is supposed to be just a perverse joke - we hope.

The last member of an informal alliance of top Trump officials with enough swat or stature to stand up to President Trump — the Committee to Save America, as we called these officials 16 months ago — resigned in epic fashion.

The bottom line: Unlike most others, who pretended to leave on fine terms, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis bailed with a sharp, specific, stinging rebuke of Trump and his America-first worldview...

It was a historic letter and a historic moment capping a historic day, one you could easily see filling a full chapter of future books on the Trump presidency. The wheels felt like they were coming off the White House before Mattis quit. - Axios 

The thing is, Traitor Trump has already made a practice of appointing people just because he pretty much mindlessly likes what they’ve had to say on TV. Like Larry Kudlow and Heather Nauert. So there is precedent.

Hegseth's Minnesota connection is that he’s from here, and ran for the GOP Senate nomination here in 2012. He’s since become a major Fox idiot - Trump's kind of idiot. Birds of a feather.

(BTW: "Mattis was no Shining Knight," from Informed Comment, here.)

VA privatization trial run hasn't worked well

ProPublica has been consistently breaking the most important news about what the a-hole kleptocrats are trying to do to Veterans Administration healthcare.

Here’s what has actually happened in the four years since the government began sending more veterans to private care: longer waits for appointments and, a new analysis of VA claims data by ProPublica and PolitiFact shows, higher costs for taxpayers...

The winners have been two private companies hired to run the program, which began under the Obama administration and is poised to grow significantly under Trump. ProPublica and PolitiFact obtained VA data showing how much the agency has paid in medical claims and administrative fees for the Choice program. Since 2014, the two companies have been paid nearly $2 billion for overhead, including profit. That’s about 24 percent of the companies’ total program expenses — a rate that would exceed the federal cap that governs how much most insurance plans can spend on administration in the private sector. - ProPublica

MN-06: Emmer stumbles badly out of the gate

Someone seems to be in over his head. And, no, he won’t learn. Not his style.

Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer’s first few weeks leading the GOP’s House campaign arm are sure off to a great start. Last week, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, pointing out that she would be just one of 13 Republican women serving in the House, announced that she was leaving her leadership post at the NRCC and building her own operation to recruit Republican women to run. Emmer responded to this by telling a reporter that Stefanik’s plan to help women in primaries was “a mistake,” a comment that Politico reports immediately caused a firestorm in the GOP caucus.

Emmer quickly tried to clarify that he only meant that it was a “mistake” for the committee to get involved in primaries in the first place, but that didn’t stop several Republican House members from publicly rebuking him. Stefanik herself tweeted out Emmer’s “mistake” comments with her own caption: “NEWSFLASH I wasn’t asking for permission.” - Daily Kos

More malicious crap at the VA - Update

Traitor Trump is skilled at having others do his dirty work, though not at keeping his own grubby mitts clean.

Newly released emails about the three Trump associates who secretly steered the Department of Veterans Affairs show how deeply the trio was involved in some of the agency’s most consequential matters, most notably a multibillion-dollar effort to overhaul electronic health records for millions of veterans.

Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, West Palm Beach physician Bruce Moskowitz and lawyer Marc Sherman — part of the president’s circle at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida — reviewed a confidential draft of a $10 billion government contract for the electronic-records project, even though they lack any relevant expertise...

But none of the three men has served in the U.S. military or elsewhere in government, and none of them has expertise in health information technology or federal contracting.

The list is one of hundreds of newly released documents about the so-called Mar-a-Lago Crowd’s sway over VA policy and personnel decisions. The records show them editing the budget for a government program, weighing in on job candidates and being treated as having decision-making authority on policy initiatives. - ProPublica

The roots of this next one are pre-Trump. But better leadership now could have resulted in getting this fixed.

 A few weeks ago NBC News reported that U.S. veterans attending school under the GI Bill weren't getting the benefits promised to them because a small change to how student housing claims were calculated had the side effect of breaking the entire system. The ancient technology relied upon by the Veterans Benefits Association could not handle the required change in zip code processing, creating a backlog of more than 100,000 unprocessed claims. Some veterans have ended up getting incorrect amounts, but others haven't gotten their benefits at all, leading to dire financial stress as students struggled to suddenly come up with money that the Veterans Administration suddenly wasn't sending them.

Now we're learning that veterans who didn't get their full payments cannot expect the VA to make good on the rest of the money. They're out of luck. NBC reports that congressional staffers have been told by the department that the veterans who were underpaid can expect to be stiffed for the rest of their claims because the department can't audit those past underpayments without even worse delays to current payments, due to the same system frailties. - Daily Kos

Update: "After pressure from Congress, VA reverses course and promises full benefits to veterans." Note that it's pressure from Congress, not from Trump.

The economy won't crash tomorrow, but, red flags

- "Household debt hit a record high of $13.5 trillion last quarter"

The total debt shouldered by Americans has hit another record high, rising to $13.5 trillion in the last quarter, while an unusual jump in student-loan delinquencies could provide another signal that the nation's economic expansion is growing old.

Flows of student debt into serious delinquency — of 90 or more days — rose to 9.1 percent in the third quarter from 8.6 percent in the previous quarter, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. - NBC News

Crappy NAFTA 2.0 got signed, but it ain't over

Traitor Trump recently signed the US Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), frequently referred to as NAFTA 2.0. It still has to be approved, next year, by both houses of Congress. There is opposition from both the left and the right, and it will be interesting to follow. For now, useful analysis:

- This is an overview, with a lot of links:

The new NAFTA might hit some feel-good political notes. But, as always, the real-life impact of its protections for labor, the environment, and human rights comes down to the political will to wield the law to support those communities—a political will that is rooted in the rights that free-trade deals inevitably leave out: the people’s power to defy a rigged system. - The Nation

- This is more specific to farmers and food:

IATP has done a thorough analysis of what the new agreement means for farming and food. The upshot: While minor improvements have been made, major new detrimental provisions have also been added, and none of the structural issues that farmers in all three countries have been calling for have been adequately addressed. - IATP

A Farm Bill looks to be done - Update

We apparently won’t see the whole thing until next week, after it’s been scored by the CBO.

The tentative deal was reached after House Republicans agreed to dump new, stricter laws around SNAP, which have been a major bone of contention in their chamber. Bloomberg reports that those provisions will be left out of the final bill. That would reconcile the House bill with the Senate bill, which did not impose new restrictions on SNAP benefits. - New Food Economy

There’s some detail here, from AgWeb. Conservation Reserve Program acreage will get a little bump from 24 to 27 million. From the article linked above it looks like other major conservation programs will also be at least maintained. As far as what else is or isn’t there for the conservation/environmentalist crowd, like me, we’ll find out.

Update: Traitor Trump has been making triumphant claims. Reality check:

Once again Trump is taking what’s basically an agreement to negotiate and hailing it as a HUGE deal that is definitely 100 percent settled in his favor. In addition to his usual level of bluster, he’s trying to convince a very specific audience here: farmers, a key part of Trump’s base that’s been hit hard by Trump’s trade war. He tweeted Monday morning that “Farmers will be a a very BIG and FAST beneficiary of our deal with China. They intend to start purchasing agricultural product immediately. We make the finest and cleanest product in the World, and that is what China wants. Farmers, I LOVE YOU!” 

Farmers should be taking note that the amount of U.S. products the White House says China will be buying is “not yet agreed upon,” a real red flag when you’re dealing with Team Trump. Especially since, for all his insistence that “We are dealing from great strength,” it sure looks like Trump wants a deal, any deal. And as we’ve seen, Mr. The Art of the Deal is a crappy dealmaker even when he hasn’t telegraphed to the world how desperate he is. - Daily Kos

Voters rejected the school deformer agenda

At least, majorities of them did, in a number of places.  Good deal.

The blue wave that swept the nation in the recent midterm elections was also a broad rejection of recent trends to privatize public education through school voucher programs and privately operated charter schools. From New York to California, new candidates ran and won on platforms opposed to privatization, big-money backers of charter schools suffered humiliating losses, and voters trounced efforts to expand voucher programs that drain public schools of the funding they need.

This spring’s teacher walkouts that made news across the country can take some credit for propelling the anti-privatization message to voters and prompting educators to take their support for public schools to the ballot box. But opposition to the privatization industry was also strong in states that did not experience teacher walkouts, and public education advocates are vowing to take their cause to state capitals and Congress to curb the flow of public money to unaccountable, privately operated education providers. - Jeff Bryant/AlterNet

The Farm Bill saga drags on

There are some mildly inconsistent accounts of what’s going on with the Farm Bill, based on what I could find this morning. This probably sums up the current state of affairs as well as anything. Having it wait until next year, with greater input from a Democratic House, would be better, but I rather doubt that that will happen.

Leaders of the House and Senate agriculture committees say they still hope to finish a farm bill this session, but they have not shown signs of reaching a final agreement. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has hinted that the farm bill might be added to the appropriations bill so that House leadership would not have to bring it up as a separate piece of legislation. Meanwhile, Representative Collin Peterson of Minnesota, who will chair the House Ag Committee next year, says that if the bill does not pass, he wants to organize his committee quickly in January and bring up the farm bill in short order. - Hoosier Ag Today

A couple of related items:

Trumpers plan more VA privatization

Overtly, it's being claimed that the Veterans Administration, especially its health care system, won’t be privatized. The reality is that back-door crap is already underway.

Last June, President Donald Trump signed a landmark law on veterans’ health care after months of tense negotiations. At the ceremony in the Rose Garden, Trump said the bill would deliver on his campaign promise to let veterans see private doctors instead of using the Department of Veterans Affairs’ government-run health service: “I’m going to sign legislation that will make veterans’ choice permanent,” he said.

Standing behind him, the leaders of major veterans groups looked around uncomfortably. What Trump called “choice” these veterans groups called “privatization,” and they’d been warning for years that it would cost taxpayers more money and deliver worse care for veterans. The veterans groups had endorsed the bill, but Trump’s description of it was not what they thought they were there to support.

The moment left no doubt that the Trump administration is determined to use the new law to expand the private sector’s role in veterans’ health care. The administration is working on a plan to shift millions more veterans to private doctors and is aiming to unveil the proposal during Trump’s State of Union address in January, according to four people briefed on the proposal. - ProPublica 

Crunch time for PolyMet

You probably saw that PolyMet/Glencore got some of their permits from the state. It’s important to bear in mind that they still have plenty more to get. The way they got their permits so far is messed up - especially if they ultimately get away with it.

First, Minnesota’s Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) has argued PolyMet is planning to build a dramatically bigger mine than it has actually proposed. The second is that some disputes over the project — such as questions raised about the safety of its tailings dam intended to store waste — should be subject to review from an administrative law judge...

Based on financial information submitted by PolyMet through Canadian disclosure laws, however, the MCEA contends the mining company wants to build a mine at least double in size. Copper-nickel mining has long-term risks for the environment, including the creation of acid that can leach heavy metals into water.

“It is very rare for a regulatory agency to say no to an expansion,” Aaron Klemz, a spokesman for the MCEA, told reporters Thursday. “This is a very common technique for the mining industry — to get their camel’s nose under the tent and then come in with the actual proposal.” Klemz’s organization has a pending lawsuit challenging the decision to not review a larger mine in the Court of Appeals. - MinnPost

Moreover:

Paula Maccabee, WaterLegacy Advocacy Director and Counsel expresses concern that the DNR has allowed PolyMet to put up much less financial assurance than required by law to protect taxpayers:

“It would be very troubling if the DNR was allowing PolyMet to circumvent the rules and low-ball financial assurance to make PolyMet’s economically marginal sulfide mining project appear financially feasible.” - WaterLegacy

So, we’ll see.

Trump should be gone by the summer solstice - Update

That is, I think there’s a considerably better than 50/50 chance that he will be.

Not by impeachment and removal; it won’t have to come to that. The forthcoming public investigations should bring more heat than the heart of a quasar. A while ago a list was published of what Democrats probably have in mind - according to House Republicans. This is just the first four; to quote more here would exceed fair use standards, so you’ll have to click over to Axios to see the remaining 14, and the author's own learned remarks on the matter.

President Trump’s tax returns

Trump family businesses — and whether they comply with the Constitution's emoluments clause, including the Chinese trademark grant to the Trump Organization

Trump's dealings with Russia, including the president's preparation for his meeting with Vladimir Putin

The payment to Stephanie Clifford — a.k.a. Stormy Daniels

Behind all the tough talk and bluster, there is not a more pitiful, cowardly, whimpering, sniveling half-a-man on the face of this planet than “President” Donald J. Trump. (There are unfortunately a good many just about as bad, and they make up a far higher percentage than they do in the general population of right-wing electeds, right-wing media ranters, and so forth. But none worse.) He’ll break.

He will, for want of a better term, abdicate. Flee on a private jet in the middle of the night (after he and his family have stashed much loot in what they hope are untraceable accounts) to who-knows-where. I used to think Russia, but since he still owes Russian banks many millions, perhaps even billions, I now doubt he'd go to where they could get their hands on him effortlessly.

North Korea? Nah. But we'll find out.

Update: More, much more, from Axios.

Elections stuff

- Here is a voter guide from Twin Cities Daily Planet. It has extensive information on elections for Hennepin and Ramsey counties, like commissioner, sheriff, etc.

- In the “I hope so, and it makes sense, but we’ll see” category, “Trump’s Immigration Stunts Are Driving Progressive Voter Turnout” here.

- Ditto for “Great News. Washington Post poll shows Baby Boomers and Silent Gen. turning on GOP!” here.

- Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) is one of the Wall Street Flunkies website's “Bankers’ Dozen.” Considering that we’re talking about just 13 people out of the entire U.S. Congress, I suppose it could be heralded as a significant achievement for him. If you click on his portrait, the article is comprehensive and damning.

When it comes to the issues that matter to Wall Street, Paulsen has consistently ignored not only the interests but the clearly expressed will of the people he is sworn to represent. Ten years after the financial crisis, the great majority of voters—across lines of geography and political party—voice their support for existing regulations and say they would like to see the rules governing Wall Street and the financial world made made tougher. Yet in all the actions described here, Rep. Paulsen has not once called for stronger rather than weaker regulation of banks, lenders, and other financial entities.

If Republicans ran Minnesota - education, elections, &c.

This series is based mostly on what Party of Trump state legislators have been trying to do. It is not remotely meant to be anywhere near exhaustive. Just items I’ve chosen to particularly highlight, being brought together for easy reference. I may be adding stuff, from time to time. Part 1, finances and budget, here. Part 2, environment, here.

School funding issues would only get worse. That’s what you call a “lock bet.”

State aid to Minnesota school districts—properly adjusted for inflation—has fluctuated significantly over the last fifteen years, but the overall trend has been downward, as documented in a recent North Star report. Of course, long-term trends are not exclusively the result of changes enacted by state policymakers.* Using information compiled during the 2017 special legislative session, it’s possible to isolate the impact of legislative actions during the current fiscal year (FY) 2018-2019 biennium. And those actions led to a decline in real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) per pupil general education revenue. - North Star Policy Institute

More here. And here, especially about how Republicans seek to backdoor public money for private schools.

- Election-rigging. Of course. Republicans have made numerous efforts to destroy Minnesota’s public campaign financing, and to potentially enable gerrymandering. In particular, they’ve sought to add riders to these ends to must-pass budget bills, apparently blissfully oblivious to just how obnoxiously childish - and cowardly - such tactics make them look.

- An effort to get the Appleton prison doing its thing died in the Senate, this time. Also from Bluestem Prairie, outstate locals do not in fact really seem to be on fire for the lock-em-up mentality. But a GOP legislature and governor would presumably quickly pass one of those override bills, mostly used in other states so far to reverse local minimum wage increases, to deal with such manifestations of intelligence and humanity.

MN-08: Stauber emails broke the law

Pete Stauber is the Republican candidate for the U.S. House in MN-08, which happens to be where I live. From today:

Today, St. Louis County officials finally released controversial emails that Pete Stauber has been hiding from the taxpayers. Jordan Hagert, Campaign Manager for Joe Radinovich, released the following statement: “These emails are clear evidence that Pete Stauber has been openly and knowingly violating the law and county policy to use taxpayer resources to advance his political agenda. Stauber then went on to lie about the fact that he had used county staff and resources for campaign purposes, and he knew it was illegal to do so. It’s part of a broader pattern of misleading the public. He’s been as slippery on his policy positions as he has been untruthful about these emails, and it's clear Stauber can’t be trusted to do the right thing when no one is looking.”

You may be wondering why I’m not calling Stauber a liar, in my own remarks. For me, lying is when someone is consciously aware that she is making a claim that’s not true. Years of careful observation have convinced me that right-wing politicians are so far gone in motivated reasoning and cognitive rigidity that they honestly believe every word of the pitiable nonsense they spout. The best example, these days, is of course Stauber’s big booster “President” Donald "Traitor" Trump. People whose minds “work” like that are certainly not what we should have running things.

But, hey, DFL candidate Joe Radinovich was a wild kid, a long time ago, and that’s what really matters here, right? In fact, the Stauber campaign has been atrociously hypocritical, throughout.

Yeah Pete. Hammer such scofflaw things as traffic tickets. The purity of the "hard workers who obey the law in CD8" is a tremendous thing to run on, when little else favors a Trumpster Congressional wannabe, with Trumpster cohort criminal pleas falling right, left and center; immunity grants included. Millionaires cheating the government, big time crime, and Stauber turning a blind eye to such true CRIME to talk traffic tickets. - Developers are Crabgrass

Just the other week I had occasion to take a drive across the south part of the district. That is, past a lot of corn and soybean fields. We’ll see whether, given the effects of Trump's trade policies, this area is less red than usual.

If Republicans ran Minnesota - environment

This series is based mostly on what Party of Trump state legislators have been trying to do. It is not remotely meant to be anywhere near exhaustive. Just items I’ve chosen to particularly highlight, being brought together for easy reference. I may be adding stuff, from time to time. Part 1, finances and budget, here. Part 3, education, elections, &c., here.

- This article, from Fresh Energy, excellently summarizes a lot of what went down, especially with solar.

- As does this, in a variety of areas, from the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.

- Xcel energy tried to use plutocratic tools in the lege to pull a bunch of crap, some of which is described in the preceding. This was probably the most noxious:

While Xcel Energy has made notable progress on building new renewable energy sources, they’re still happy to shift ever-mounting nuclear plant costs onto ratepayers. This bill would have created a new, uncapped fee on customers’ bills to pay for those costs –and allowed Xcel to run around the normal Public Utilities Commission (“PUC”) process for approving investments and costs. We put pressure on Xcel and their allies in the legislature from the start: they cancelled a hearing at the last minute, watered down the bill, and ultimately let the measure die. - Environment Minnesota

From the same article:

Companies like Enbridge can build pipelines and replace them without federal intervention –that’s why it’s up to states like Minnesota to act. Right now, the PUC is considering whether to allow Enbridge to expand its Line 3 pipeline, letting millions of gallons of heavy tar sands crude run through indigenous lands, family farms, and public green spaces. Some legislators decided that our evidence-based process isn’t fast enough, though, and tried to pass legislation that would instantly approve Line 3. Thankfully, Governor Mark Dayton vetoed the bill, responding to pressure from Environment Minnesota’s members.

MN House: Ginny Klevorn in 44A

From her website:

Care for our Seniors:

- Promote policies that protect seniors’ ability to live independently in their homes

- Protect the ability to retire with dignity and peace of mind

- Prepare for growing senior population through development and training of qualified in-home care

Here are some examples of what Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth) has been up to in the lege:

- Fighting against workplace protections for women;

- Helping out the predatory payday loan industry;

- Promoting right-wing gerrymandering.

You get the picture. Fanatical and power-crazed. This seat’s overdue to flip.

MN House: Amir Malik in 37B

From his website:

The number one cause of bankruptcy in America is medical expenses. Healthcare needs to be affordable for Minnesotans. While there are great programs like MinnesotaCare, more needs to be done. A healthy workforce is a productive, tax-paying workforce. Healthy children are better able to focus on achieving academically.

As for Rep. Nolan West (R-Blaine):

In fall 2016, after 21 months as a legislative aide, West, then 25, was running for an open seat representing Blaine in the Minnesota House.

That September, City Pages ran a story about West’s years-long history of racist and homophobic social media diatribes. There were posts about the Confederacy (loved it), Abe Lincoln (“worst president”), and “fagballs.”

On the eve of Barack Obama’s 2008 election, he wrote, “IT’S LYNCHING TIME.”

The next day, West was out of a job... but still on the ballot and suddenly regretful for “insensitive material” that didn’t “reflect who I am or what I believe.”

Enough of Blaine’s voters either bought this mea culpa or didn’t know about it. That November, West beat retired school teacher Susan Witt by less than 1 percent. - City Pages

A relevant item of interest is a recent study of the electoral effects of bigoted, anti-Muslim rhetoric and activity, discussed and linked here. I don’t know whether West’s campaign has been doing that, but there’s certainly plenty of it in the Minnesota Party of Trump in general.

MN House: Bill Vikander in 35A

From his website:

I promise to speak up for every citizen in our district and in our state, no matter who they are, where they're from, or where they're going.  We must close the gender wage gap.  We must have an honest conversation about race and how racism still impacts each and every Minnesotan and American.  We must remember our history and embrace immigrants once again--not turn them away out of fear or politics.  We must support a woman's right to make her own reproductive health care decisions.  We must act with urgency, clarity, and purpose to meet the challenge of climate change and preserve Minnesota's natural resources for generations to come.

These are not "progressive" or "conservative" values.  They are human values, born of basic kindness and decency.  They are Minnesota values.  

This is the seat vacated by Abigail Whelan, who left the legislature to walk Christ’s path in other ways. Nothing wrong with that, if you ask me, as long as those who “walk Christ’s path” don’t try to force their own interpretation of that onto the rest of us. Which Whelan certainly did. And the GOP candidate here, John Heinrich, is casting himself as Whelan's worthy successor.

Tough district? Absolutely. But whenever someone talks to me about tough districts, this cycle, I use a five-word rejoinder (actually, four words and a letter): “Sen. Doug Jones (D-Alabama).”

MN House: Hunter Cantrell in 56A

From his website:

 Year after year, Minnesota's state legislature has continued to push through bills in the dead of night that deal with billions of our tax-payer dollars during the final hours of the legislative session. Minnesotans deserve to have the opportunity to give feedback on the policies that affect us. I want to put an end to the practice of passing important bills that no one has had the chance to read by requiring that all state budget targets to be established 14 days before the end of the legislative session, and be made open to public testimony before coming to a vote.

Special interest groups ranging from the pharmaceutical industry to the tobacco companies continue to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to buy influence over our state government. I believe politics is about serving the needs of people in our communities over the needs of the special interest groups. I am committed to reducing the ability of special interest groups to buy power and exert influence over policy-makers at the expense of the people of Minnesota.

Rep. Drew Christensen (R-Savage) got attention when he first ran, and won, in 2014 because he was all of 21 years old at the time. In the lege he’s been a cipher. This is a supremely flippable seat.

MN House: Lori Ann Clark in 21A

From her website:

Investments in public education are especially vital to rural communities who want new families to move to their towns. Our state funding solutions need to be sufficient, steady, and reliable so rural schools can create the educational opportunities our students require to learn and succeed.

To compete in this ever-changing world, Lori Ann supports a strong cradle-to-grave public education system that starts with pre-school readiness and continues with occupational retraining options to keep workers skilled and working. 

We need to support our public education teachers and their rights to organize and collectively bargain.

This is the seat that Tim Kelly left after well-publicized, adulterous involvement with then-fellow legislator Tara Mack. Rep. Barb Haley (R-Red Wing) has not sought legislative prominence, so far. From what I saw she appears to be somewhat “moderate,” with moderate in quotes because it’s entirely relative to the raving, bigoted insanity of the contemporary Party of Trump. A DFLer like Clark in this seat would be far, far better.

MN House: Alice Mann in 56B

From her website:

An older gentleman recently came to see me in clinic, someone I’ve gotten to know well over the years. As we discussed his medications, he told me that because of the high cost, he had been rationing them, taking them every other day. When it comes to medical care, no one should have to choose between their health and the ability to pay their heating bill.

I believe that everyone should have access to affordable care.

I have experienced what healthcare looks like in developing nations without proper care, and I have experienced what it looks like here in our backyard. I have also been fortunate enough to study at some of the best medical programs in the country. I am not interested in parroting partisan talking points. I am interested in creating policy that can bring real solutions.

Rep. Roz Peterson (R-Lakeville) appears to well know that she’s in a swing district, and has on occasion done, or at least proclaimed, the "centrist" thing. (More here.) But she is absolutely a devoted member of the Party of Traitor Trump, and needs to go.

MN House: Shelly Christensen in 39B

From her website:

By the year 2020 the population of seniors in Minnesota will be just under 1 million. Seniors will be the largest share of population state wide. There will be more seniors in 2035 than there will be school children. Seniors are dependent on affordable healthcare, including common sense prescription pricing. They will require sound transportation systems to improve mobility and more access to home-care. Shelly supports substantial investment to ensure that our seniors have adequate support services. There is a growing need for personal care assistants, adult day care services, medical supplies and equipment and customized living spaces that allow seniors to stay in the home.

This district isn’t that red, and it’s unfortunate that Rep. Kathy Lohmer (R-Stillwater) keeps getting reelected. She got off on the wrong foot, way back in 2012, with "Car-Wrap Gate," among other things, but has since then pursued her religious-right obsessions in the legislature in a more low-key way. Except for being part of the "Muslims are infiltrating our caucuses" thing, which actually seems to be a bigot badge of honor in the MN GOP, right now.

If Republicans ran Minnesota - finances and budget

This series is based mostly on what Party of Trump state legislators have been trying to do. It is not remotely meant to be anywhere near exhaustive. Just items I’ve chosen to particularly highlight, being brought together for easy reference. I may be adding stuff, from time to time. Part 2, environment, here. Part 3, education, elections, &c., here.

- Republican budget proposals in 2018 kind of came and went, but this provides the gist of what their approach was. As always.

While the tax cuts passed by Congress last year mean more money for many earners and businesses, Minnesota stands to pull in nearly $500 million a year in additional revenues. Dayton has proposed redirecting that money largely to individuals and families. That would leave some businesses with a higher tax burden while also repealing GOP-backed tax cuts on tobacco products, wealthy estate owners and businesses that passed the Legislature just last year.

But Republicans in the House (in April 2018) released a rough budget roadmap that calls would put an additional $107 million toward tax breaks, while calling for $7 million in unspecified cuts to state agencies. Republicans who control the Senate have also left the door open to using part of the state's expected surplus to reduce taxes even more. - US News & World Report

This details the deleterious long-term effects of the tax policy Republicans rammed through in 2017.

- The Party of Trump was unfortunately successful in raiding the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. (The article was written before Gov. Dayton, in a position where he pretty much had to give the GOP something, signed off.)

How clever Kurt Daudt and Paul Gazelka are, the Legislature’s head honchos.

Daudt, the Republican House speaker, and Gazelka, the Republican Senate majority leader, waited until the final hours of the recent legislative session to abscond with money from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF). - Dennis Anderson/Star Tribune

A lawsuit has been filed, by some of the state’s environmental organizations, to try to prevent such a vile travesty from reoccurring.

Environmentalists were infuriated this year when Minnesota’s Legislature funneled money from a natural resources trust fund to pay for a $98 million bundle of infrastructure projects — the first known instance of such a maneuver.

But a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and other groups to reverse the spending from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) may have implications that go far beyond that goal.

Aaron Klemz, an MCEA spokesman, said the legal action also serves as a warning to legislators to stay away from the state’s other constitutionally dedicated funds for the environment. That primarily means money from the voter-approved 2008 Legacy Amendment, which pays for a swath of natural resources projects across Minnesota through a sales tax. - MinnPost

As the article quoted just above notes, Republicans would love to raid Legacy Amendment funds as well. What they’d love most of all, though, is to get rid of the Legacy Amendment entirely, long shot though that is. That the people of Minnesota would have voted to raise their own taxes is regarded as a deeply personal - indeed, all but unbearable - insult to the legacy of Almighty Reagan.

- Sometimes you wonder whether if the GOP was in charge there'd be bonding bills at all. Probably just piddling ones, containing only projects in red districts. It's not as if we're talking about tax cuts for the rich, you know.

MN House: Mindy Kimmel in 16B

Very tough district, but, why not? The past couple of years’ worth of special elections nationwide shows that nothing’s out of reach. From Kimmel's website:

Mindy Kimmel was inspired to run for political office in 2017 after attending the Women's March in St. Paul. After considering, "What can I do next," it became clear that the best way was to pursue a run for office. She seeks common ground solutions for the challenges rural communities face.

Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) doesn’t have much to say about the issues, on his website. As he’s a farmer it certainly seems that he should rethink some of his views, given how Traitor Trump is screwing farmers. But it looks like he hasn’t, and likely won’t.

MN House: Renee Cardarelle in 29A

From her website:

In a Democracy all people should feel that they are represented in our government. For women this means that at least 50% of our governing bodies should include women.

However, the Minnesota legislative body is not equally represented. Less than 30% of the Minnesota State Legislators are women.

In the US Legislative body it is even more bleak: Twenty-three women (17D, 6R) serve in the United States Senate in the 115th Congress. Of these 23, four are women of color. 

For people with disabilities it is even more bleak. Although 600,000 individuals with disabilities live in Minnesota or about 11% of the population*, they most certainly do not make up 11% of the Legislature. 

Our founding fathers had a vision for a society that was equal in its operation. Equality is an absolute necessity in a Democracy and one which we must fight for!

What caught my eye about this one is the series of events the Cardarelle campaign is doing. Kind of a different approach, in a tough district.

I’ve never seen much about Rep. Joe McDonald (R-Delano). From his issues page:

We all must work resolutely to defend the high ground of Americas founding principles based on Judean Christian values of Life, Liberty and property.

Tells you about all you need to know, doesn’t it?

MN House: Steve Sandell in 53B

From his website:

Every student should be able to attend a school that is safe, nurturing and stimulating, where he or she can learn the habits of respect, cooperation, and academic success. Our schools are being squeezed by rising costs and increased responsibilities. Equal access to a satisfying and competitive education has become the victim. Our public schools should not have to depend on repeated referendum, fund raisers, or fees and contributions to meet their budgets. That only increases disparities between districts and individual classrooms. In addition, legislators should encourage regular discussions among school boards and their unions to make contract negotiations a more respectful and productive exchange. 

Rep. Kelly Fenton (R-Woodbury) hasn’t been in the legislature for long, but is already Assistant Majority Leader. Presumably that’s because she was previously deputy chair of the MN GOP. The issues section of her website is oh-so-careful, and certainly doesn't brag up the party affiliation with the repugnant buffoon in the White House. Now that I think about it, no MN GOP candidate's website, that I've seen, does do that. This is a highly flippable seat.

MN House: Jonathan Isenor in 21B

From his website:

Compassion programs such as domestic violence advocacy centers, non-profits that connect therapeutic animals to veterans, suicide hotlines, meals on wheels, developmental achievement centers, and services that educate youth on alcohol and substance abuse (to name a few) need support from the state. In our rural communities we take care of each other the best we can but these non-profit organizations are necessary and important to help those in our community who are struggling.

It is the responsibility of those who have a voice to help those who do not.

Tough district, but no legislator in Minnesota is more deserving of getting his political butt kicked than Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa). Ever since getting into the lege he’s been among the worst. Last session his big thing was trying everything he could to screw workers. Currently he’s part of some bogus attack on Ilhan Omar - shocking, that the Draz would be part of the Islamophobe bigot brigade in a desperate, and probably doomed, effort to preserve the MN GOP House majority.

MN House: John Huot in 57B

From his website:

Most importantly, I value workers. As a former union member and labor leader, I know that collective bargaining agreements improve wages, benefits, and working conditions for ALL Minnesotans. The types of jobs Minnesotans will have in the future may require that workers possess new skills. I will champion legislation that assists workers in acquiring the qualities and traits to be successful in our changing economy.

Rep. Anna Wills (R-Rosemount) has never said or done anything to draw headlines, that I could find. But her website actually has a legitimate issues page (most Minnesota GOPers‘ websites don‘t, that I‘ve seen), and based on that she is a fervent right-winger. (What's quoted below, for example, does not accord with the facts.) And this is exactly the sort of district in which Democrats are expected to do well, this cycle.

Minnesota has always been recognized for our world-class quality health care system. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) here in Minnesota, known as MNSure, has shown to be a disaster and threatens to undo our world-class quality. I support repeal of the ACA and MNSure, and I support reforms such as free-market competition, vouchers, and health savings accounts to make health care more affordable and accessible while ensuring that consumers remain in control of their own health care decisions.

MN House: Thomas Trehus in 28B

From his website:

Growing up on my family's 5th generation farm, I know the importance of supporting agriculture. The farm economy is integral to Southeast Minnesota and as a representative of Houston and Fillmore counties I will work tirelessly for family farms and well-paying careers. 

Agriculture is one of the main economic drivers of our region. In order to continue our success we must reverse the trend of fewer and fewer farmers on fewer individual farms. Family farms, like the one I grew up on, are key to the economic viability of our region. Let's make sure land is accessible to young farmers and young families who want to make a decent living, while caring for the land in a way that would make our grandchildren proud. 

Long-serving (serving the rich man, that is) Rep. Greg Davids (R-Preston) chairs the House Tax Committee. He was the primary force behind the 2017 tax bill, passed into law using a gutless and  unconscionable “poison pill” strategy, to potentially disastrous effect. This district is not very red, and is it ever past time for him to go.

MN AG: Where the crap is coming from

Several very important items have appeared recently. For those interested in facts (unfortunately, but predictably, plenty are not, and I'm not just talking about right-wing bigots and professional false equivalence-mongers, either), I'm bringing them together, as a public service.

Of all the lawyers in Minnesota, perhaps save Doug Wardlow himself, I cannot think of anyone more likely to damage the already-fragile credibility of Karen Monahan than (Andrew) Parker... 

Parker is the attorney who hired Doug Wardlow for an associate position at Parker Rosen, his first – and only as far as I know – real private practice job. Parker offered an opinion in the Strib about what a terrific non-partisan fellow Wardlow was in the office.

Doug Wardlow didn’t need to worry about bringing right-wing politics into the office at Parker Rosen; they were already there. Andrew Parker has a radio show on AM1280 the Patriot, sharing the airwaves with, inter alia, Mitch Berg, a well-known right-wing radio host, and formerly the Sons of Liberty (Bradlee Dean & Co.).

Lawyers don’t have a formal Hippocratic Oath, but we are supposed to have a fidelity to the client’s interest first of all. If he really wanted people to believe her, he’d be the last person to offer himself up as her mouthpiece. He is wretchedly conflicted. Andrew Parker’s real client here is Doug Wardlow...

I hope – and suspect – that Parker’s “representation” is free, because that is what it is worth. It is actually worse than worthless; it is affirmatively harmful to Karen Monahan who seems to have been serially used in this entirely lamentable affair by opponents of Keith Ellison. - Left.mn 

Charges against Enbridge protesters dismissed

Good deal, with a hitch.

In October 2016, five activists from the Pacific Northwest traveled to Washington, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota to shut off oil pipelines. Now recognized as the Valve Turners, the group sent a tremor through the oil and gas industry. Enbridge had to temporarily shut down two lines in Minnesota a result of the protests, and the activists who were responsible faced felony charges in the state. Their big moment in court was this week, and guess what? The judge let them off without a scratch. Three cheers for effective protest techniques!

...They certainly got their point across. The trial itself was shaping up to become a landmark moment. The Valve Turners fought long and hard to get the judge to allow them to use a necessity clause — the argument that the threat posed by the oil coming from the tar sands was so immediate that their actions were not only morally justified, but also necessary.

But a district court judge tossed the case out so quickly the activists weren’t even able to use the necessity clause. That’s kind of a bummer, as it would have given people behind other ongoing climate-related lawsuits an opportunity to see how the legal maneuver worked in court. - Grist 

MN House: Aric Putnam in 14A

From his website:

We have some of the best local schools and the most dedicated teachers in the state. However, our schools succeed even though our legislators have consistently failed them. Despite what our current representatives claim, they treat teachers like enemies and schools like factories. I am an educator. I know our teachers, and I know our schools. They deserve better.

Our schools shape our future. Schools teach us new skills, but they also help us meet new challenges, and they encourage us to engage with people who don’t look like us. Our children are entering a world unlike the one we grew up in, where they will meet a wider variety of people and more frequently change jobs. We need an education that can teach our young people to become versatile citizens.

The legislature funds our schools like we’re a small town, and we aren’t anymore. I will work to fund our schools appropriately and honestly so that our children get the attention they deserve. We need smaller class sizes. We need additional support staff so that our young people receive the guidance that they need. And I will work to energize how we teach citizenship in our public schools by creating a Congress in the School program and helping our kids become better communicators.  We need better schools for a healthier community and a better democracy.

Rep. Tama Theis (R-St. Cloud) votes the way she's supposed to and doesn't make noise.

This is ordinarily a swingy district, though Theis won easily in the electoral atrocity that was 2016. NBC/Marist just released polling of Minnesota with very good numbers for DFLers, including a D+14 generic ballot. Yeah, at first glance the overall results seemed a little generous to me, too. But AKlo really did win by 30 in 2012, and if anything 38% approval for Traitor Trump seems a little high, right now.

No complacency, etc., etc. But numbers like these can actually enthuse people. Because there is nothing sweeter in politics than our side absolutely crushing it on Election Day.

MN House: Robert Bierman in 57A

This is the Apple Valley seat that Erin Maye Quade left to run for lieutenant governor. (I voted for the Erii, in the primary.) From Bierman's website:

Now some say the solution to is to cut taxes and slash regulations. As a small business owner myself, I can tell you, they could not be more wrong.  Businesses only thrive if they're in a thriving community, and tax cuts harm public projects that benefit the whole community, while giving billions to mega-corporations like Walmart and Amazon. The evidence bears this out. 

Matt Lundin played some pro hockey, not in the NHL but just a step or two below. Apparently that’s supposed to be his prime electoral selling point, because as with just about every Party of Trump candidate in Minnesota whose website I’ve seen so far, his issues section is what you might call “minimalist.”

MN House: Marla Vagts in 58B

From her website:

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. For too long, those in power at the Capitol have bowed to the special interests and huge corporations, and not done much to help small businesses and entrepreneurs. More than 90% of all Minnesota businesses are “microbusinesses," firms with fewer than 10 people in the business. Their needs, priorities and issues are very different than those of big business and we must support them to provide a more level playing field.

The incumbent is Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington). I wouldn’t call him Minnesota’s most ridiculous right-wing legislator, nor its stupidest. The competition for those titles is absolutely intense. But he is, in my estimation, the most obnoxious.

I try to maintain a certain detached objectivity when blogging, and I have “flattened emotional affect” in any case. But Ms. Vagts is so obviously cool and righteous, and Rep. Garofalo is so very, very obviously neither of those, that I would take special pleasure in seeing this one flip.

MN House: Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn in 48B

From her website:

Minnesota is for everyone, equally. In our community, we look after one another. We should not deny our neighbors access to affordable healthcare, equal pay for equal work, and an environment free from discrimination.

The incumbent is Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie). She has gained notoriety as probably the foremost proponent of the education deform movement in the legislature. Her website, of course, has misleading and frankly cowardly pablum, like "keeping the best teachers in the classroom" for an anti-union, test-centered agenda, and "right of every parent to choose" for letting the vile, power-crazed greedheads of the deform movement continue to attack public education from every direction. Voters are catching on, and hopefully that will include plenty of them in Eden Prairie.

MN House: Jeff Brand in 19A

This district is southwest of the Metro. The DFL candidate, Jeff Brand, has been on the city council in Saint Peter. From his website:

In order to promote a Healthy Minnesota, I will work hard to do the one thing so many people across the district have asked me to tackle. At your door, healthcare was the topic discussed the most. I believe that this election is a referendum on a "do nothing" Legislature that contributed millions in taxpayer money to insurance companies, but did little to address cost and coverage options across Minnesota. Leadership couldn't even pass an AARP backed plan to tackle elder abuse or pass a "one penny per pill" fee to drug companies to reduce prescriptions and help pay for abuse counseling.

The Republican is Kim Spears. His website has an issues page, and there are sentences there, but most of them are utterly vague and non- (even anti-) specific. Rhetorical questions: Why would a candidate refuse to define his policy goals? Why wouldn't that raise red flags for informed, thinking voters?

Farm Bill expires, and the "new" NAFTA sucks

As of this past Monday.

With the expiration of the 2014 farm bill, major programs such as crop insurance and SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program, will continue because they are either permanently authorized in other laws or funded by appropriators.

Other programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program, which provides 10- and 15-year contracts to farmers who take environmentally sensitive land out of production, continue to operate but cannot make new agreements or award new grants. The Natural Resources Conservation Service issued guidance on Sept. 21 to state offices that after Sept. 28, they would maintain current agreements but cannot cannot enter into new ones.

Another 39 so-called orphan programs identified by the Congressional Research Service would lose authorization and mandatory funding on Oct. 1. Programs to aid military veteran entering farming, trade promotion and small rural businesses shut down with the farm bill’s expiration. - Roll Call 

Whatever you might be seeing from Big Processing's propagandists, and from corporate "news" media, the vaunted NAFTA "renegotiation" is in fact mostly the same old suckage for farmers everywhere in North America. (Sorry about the color in this blockquote. Easiest way to go is just to click and read.)

The reworked NAFTA agreement entrenches agribusiness control over supply chains, seeks to streamline approval and trade of controversial agricultural biotechnology products, fails to protect consumers’ right to know what’s in their food and where it is produced, and worsens the devastating impacts of climate change. 

IATP and our allies in farming communities in the United States, Canada and Mexico have demanded a different kind of trade deal for decades. We want trade rules that support strong, sustainable and fair food systems and rural economies.

This reworked agreement achieves none of this. - Common Dreams 

MN House: Zack Stephenson in 36A

This is an open seat, in a north metro district that includes Champlin and parts of Coon Rapids. From Stephenson's website:

We need to invest in our infrastructure: roads, bridges, water systems, airports, and mass transit.   Improving infrastructure will help our existing businesses to grow and expand and will create good paying jobs in the construction industries.

In addition to creating new jobs, we can improve our economy by improving the jobs we already have.  Zack supports a guarantee of paid family leave for every Minnesotan who works full time.  No one should lose a job because they have to take care of a new baby or a sick parent.   Zack also supports raising the minimum wage to make sure that every working family does not live in poverty.

The Republican is Bill Maresh, who teaches and coaches wrestling at Champlin Park High School. Nothing wrong with that, at all, and in fact he seems to be counting on the coaching thing to resonate with voters as his #1 qualification for election. His website does have an issues page, but it doesn’t have much content other than extolling “free markets” as the solutions to all our problems. We’ve all had 40+ years now to see about how well that’s worked out.

MN House: Kelly Morrison in 33B

From Dr. Morrison's website:

I am running for the Minnesota House because I am concerned about the current state of political discourse. Minnesota is a unique state that has a history of innovative leadership that often provides an example for the rest of the country. We need to continue that leadership tradition.

The incumbent is Rep. Cindy Pugh (R-Chanhassen). She's right smack dab in the middle of this image:

Pugh is a right-wing extremist, pure and simple. A good example is how earlier this year she was involved in disseminating a repugnant piece of fear- and hate-mongering vs. Muslims. Her district should certainly know better. All districts should.

MN House: Ami Wazlawik in 38B

For some cycles past, Matt Dean held this seat. He left to go for a barely-a-blip-on-the-radar campaign for governor. From Wazlawik's website:

Since high school I have worked in public schools in some capacity. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting numerous teachers, staff, and volunteers over the years and have been inspired by their passion and dedication to educating and supporting our children.

I’ve also seen firsthand the struggles and difficulties facing our students, families, and school staff. Students who aren’t reading at grade level struggle to keep up with their classmates; parents struggle to balance the demands of work and family life; staff grow frustrated with the amount of time spent on testing and insufficient support services for students who need them most. Minnesota continues to have a large and stubborn achievement gap which must be addressed in order to ensure that all Minnesotans have access to the opportunities that education can provide.

As your state representative I will work to address these problems by supporting efforts to expand access to early education opportunities, increase funding for school support services and literacy programs, and encourage schools to provide wraparound services to students and families. In higher education, I will push for policies that make college more accessible and affordable for all Minnesota families.

The Republican here is Patti Anderson. She was State Auditor from 2003-7. If you didn't remember that, well, neither did I. And of course conservatives don't think the Auditor's office should even exist.

Her website doesn't have any kind of comprehensive issues section. Just very generic 1-2 sentence remarks on some matters. I have a feeling I'm going to be seeing a lot of that on Republican websites, as they try to disguise their deeply unpopular positions on issues (especially women's issues), and the closeness of their views with those of "President" Trump.

The Trump tax cuts and bonuses. And Russia.

As I will be mostly blogging about pending elections in Minnesota for a while, I’m reverting to an occasional one of these round-up posts for other matters.

Newly released Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data allow us to examine nonproduction bonuses in the first two quarters of 2018 to assess the trends in bonuses in absolute dollars and as a share of compensation. The bottom line is that there has been very little increase in private sector compensation or W-2 wages since the end of 2017. The $0.03 per hour (inflation-adjusted) bump in bonuses between the fourth quarter of 2018 and the second quarter of 2018 is very small and not necessarily attributable to the tax cuts rather than employer efforts to recruit workers in a continued low unemployment environment. - Economic Policy Institute 

Regarding the following, I was a “Russia skeptic” until enough evidence came along to change my views. That’s how rational, scientific thinking (anathema to contemporary conservatives) works, and rational, scientific thinking is, for example, the reason we’re not all still living in thatched mud huts, until the next epidemic of plague comes along and we’re not living at all.

I still don’t consider Russian interference the #1 reason that Traitor Trump is in the White House. To my mind, that perverse “honor” goes to the grotesque, appalling dereliction collectively displayed by corporate “news” media.

Jamieson said that, as an academic, she hoped that the public would challenge her arguments. Yet she expressed confidence that unbiased readers would accept her conclusion that it is not just plausible that Russia changed the outcome of the 2016 election—it is “likely that it did.” 

...Her case is based on a growing body of knowledge about the electronic warfare waged by Russian trolls and hackers—whom she terms “discourse saboteurs”—and on five decades’ worth of academic studies about what kinds of persuasion can influence voters, and under what circumstances. Democracies around the world, she told me, have begun to realize that subverting an election doesn’t require tampering with voting machines. Extensive studies of past campaigns, Jamieson said, have demonstrated that “you can affect people, who then change their decision, and that alters the outcome.” She continued, “I’m not arguing that Russians pulled the voting levers. I’m arguing that they persuaded enough people to either vote a certain way or not vote at all.” - The New Yorker 

MN House: Emy Minzel in 15A

This race is begging to be won by a DFLer. I know that because Gail Kulick did in fact win in 2008, and Joe Walsh very nearly did in 2012. From Minzel's website:

Taxpayer dollars should support people, not corporate subsidies and tax breaks. Slashing taxes simply to appease special interest groups and political partisans is irresponsible. Taxpayer dollars must be used with clear oversight and in the best interest of the State as a whole and our District in particular.

I live in 15A. Except for the blissful two years referenced above, “my” representative has been Sondra Erickson (R-Princeton). Given my personal interest in this matter I used to blog about her now and then, but I’ve stopped because, what’s the point? Nothing ever changes with her vintage 1980 right-wing views, and there is no indication that anything ever will, even if she lives to be 150.

Though they may mean well in their way, conservatives simply cannot govern well, or even competently, in a complex, changing world. They just don’t have what it takes, “upstairs,” if you know what I mean. They’re too cognitively rigid and unwilling to even try to reason from fact. And Rep. Erickson is a perfect example. It’s long past time for a change.

Public school funding will probably decline in Minnesota

Unless, in the short term, DFLers take back the state trifecta in November. In addition to winning governor and the state House (right now, more likely than not, but far, far from a sure thing), we need to win the special election for SD 13. You can help our candidate, Joe Perske, here.

Despite increases in recent years, real per pupil state operating aid to Minnesota school districts has declined overall since fiscal year (FY) 2003. This decline in state aid translated into significant property tax hikes and—in many instances—reduced funding for public education. To compound matters, projections based on current state law indicate a significant decline in real per pupil school aid in FY 2020 and 2021. - North Star Policy Institute 

Among other things, proper funding for public education means proper funding for teacher and staff pay. And the public knows it.

According to the 50th annual PDK Poll of attitudes about public schools, Americans trust and support teachers, but don’t want their own children to join a profession they see as underpaid and undervalued.

In almost every other way, they support public schools and the educators who work there.

When it comes to increasing school funding, increasing teacher salary, allowing teachers to strike, and an abundance of other issues, the poll found a majority of people unequivocally in favor of endeavors meant to bolster learning.

In fact, support for education and educators has never been so high in half a century. - gadflyonthewallblog 

(If I'm going to be blogging on this platform for a while, at some point my lazy behind will take the trouble to learn to deal with formatting, fonts, etc., in a more consistent and professional manner. But not yet.)

VA secretary said no privatization, but...

I don’t doubt that Secretary Wilkie was personally sincere, as far as that goes.

 The new secretary of veterans affairs pledged to the American Legion on (August 29) that he won't privatize his agency's health care services even as it increases options for veterans to seek care in the private sector. - MPR

There are many forces at work here, some of them far, far from righteous. I was unable to find anything very recent about Mar-a-Lago crowd. Presumably they are still having input, and privatization is still their ultimate goal - and Traitor Trump’s.

Here's an article about women vets having problems with VA care. Nothing that can’t be fixed, with proper funding and commitment. We’ll see if that’s forthcoming.

Still no farm bill, on top of Trump's deranged tariffs

There's quite a good chance that there won't be one by the "deadline," and we'll see how much of a struggle it is to get the current one extended for a while.

When House and Senate versions of a farm bill were sent to a conference committee earlier this year, it appeared the major sticking point would be work requirements for food stamp recipients that were included in the House version. A deteriorating financial landscape for farmers and ranchers, however, has blown open the farm bill talks to go back to the basics of funding levels for various parts of the farm safety net, according to Pro Farmer Washington policy analyst Jim Wiesemeyer.

“(House Ag Committee Chairman Mike) Conaway wants to talk policy first and then see what funding is needed to get that policy,” Wiesemeyer says. “The Senate, however, wants to come up with specific maximum levels by title as far as funding and that’ll lock in certain areas where it doesn’t give you as much wiggle room. There’s also battles internally going on to which title gets how much funding because apparently the Senate wants to make rather significant changes in the farmer safety net.” - AgWeb

Meanwhile, who's going to get bailouts is clearly politically motivated.. And farmers are hurting regardless.

What the deal is here

MN Progressive Project Annex is being used while our usual site, MN Progressive Project, is down.

You're welcome to comment. Right-wing trolls, though, and other purveyors of idiocy will be blocked.

Update (December 2019): As a matter of fact it's been apparent for a while that MN Progressive Project is gone for good. I'm continuing to do this anyway. I also contribute longer items at LEFTMN.

MN Gov: RGA bails on GOP candidate Jeff Johnson

This (from Daily Kos) comes with all of the usual caveats, no complacency, etc. And, yeah, I've seen the polls, too.

Minnesota Public Radio's Brian Bakst reports that the Republican Governor's Association has canceled its TV reservations for Sept. 26 to Oct. 9, though it still has ad time on the books for the final weeks of the election. The RGA's move is a big vote of no confidence for GOP nominee Jeff Johnson, but it's not a complete surprise. The RGA reserved $2.3 million in fall TV time months ago, but an unnamed GOP operative told Buzzfeed back in June that it was "likely" they'd cancel it if their preferred candidate, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, lost the primary to Johnson.​