News Cut: June 12, 2008 Archive

The power of the pulpit

Posted at 7:21 AM on June 12, 2008 by Bob Collins (22 Comments)
Filed under: Politics, Religion

The Star Tribune carries the story today about Rev. Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church who is urging his flock not to support Barack Obama for president because of his position on abortion. Booth is a delegate to the RNC convention in St. Paul later this year.

It's not a freedom of speech issue. It's a tax issue. There's nothing to prevent any church leader from speaking politics. You just can't get into endorsing candidates from the pulpit while claiming non-profit status from the IRS.

I know what some of you are thinking? Isn't that what Obama's former pastor did? Why isn't the IRS investigating that church. It is.

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Politics and the homeless

Posted at 11:06 AM on June 12, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

An astounding number of people reacted with an odd question when told the Republican National Convention this year would be held at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center.

What about the Dorothy Day Center?

In fact, the future of the homeless shelter was one of the first questions MPR News asked. And you have to ask, "why?" Nobody was asking about the motel on the corner of Kellogg and 7th.

Historically, the homeless and political conventions don't mix, and the subtext of the question suggests Republicans would want to ignore the homeless and that act would be a metaphor for their political philosophy on the subject.

So listen to Rev. John Estrem, CEO of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which runs the shelter. He talked this morning with MPR's Cathy Wurzer:

"The city, the Secret Service, the police, the Republican convention committee itself... they were all very helpful. Of course everybody has an opinion, but nobody put any pressure on us at all."

Whoops.

In fact, in one of the more underreported factoids surrounding the convention, the Republican organizers of the convention have been helping out at the homeless shelter.

So who is hiding the homeless this year? According to the Rocky Mountain News, it's the Democrats, or at least the city hosting the Democrats. Denver is opening up shelters away from the convention site. Those shelters are usually only open in the winter. One group asked whether the $50 million on security in Denver might be better spent on finding homes and shelter for the homeless.

In its 2004 report, Illegal to be Homeless, the National Council on the Homeless said police sweeps in advance of the Republican Convention in New York targeted the homeless:

Many day labor sites, several near homeless shelters, have been targeted by the police. NYPD issued homeless day laborers waiting for work near the Bedford Atlantic Men's shelter in Brooklyn 228 summonses in 28 days. Complaints from the community about crimes in the area, references to traffic hazards are invoked in order to justify hitting "preventively" on day laborers with charges such as trespassing (even though people live in the shelter), loitering, disorderly conduct and impeding pedestrian traffic.

St. Paul officials have been studying New York's performance during the Republican convention in 2004, and have decided it's an effective model for how not to host a political convention.

Rev. Estrem says Catholic Charities' decision is based partly on the desire to make sure "the voices of the poor" are heard during the convention.

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Political courage?

Posted at 12:24 PM on June 12, 2008 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Politics, Politics

According to a news release sent out by the U.S. Department of Transportation, this is what Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said as she stood next to Gov. Tim Pawlenty in Bloomington today and announced federal dollars to cut traffic congestion along I-35W:

"Our economic vitality and prosperity as a nation are increasingly becoming dependent on our willingness to embrace new transportation strategies," Secretary Peters said. "Thanks to the tremendous political courage of state and local leaders, the Twin Cities' future is looking promising and prosperous."

Since many of the projects (such as a toll lane on I-35W, which got $24.7 million in the gas tax bill) being partially funded were in the transportation bill vetoed by Gov. Pawlenty, and then overridden by the Legislature with the aid of a half dozen Republican lawmakers, it's possible she was referring to the bill Pawlenty and most Republicans despised because it raised the state's gasoline tax.

I called the Department of Transportation to ask what Peters was referring to when she invoked the phrase "political courage." They punted, saying a spokesman accompanying Peters would call me back right away. He didn't.

Peters spokesman Brian Turmail said she was referring to the fact "the Minnesota Legislature, working with Gov. Pawlenty, was able to pass legislation that included high-occupancy toll lanes on I-35W. In the past we've seen a backlash for those sort of decisions."

But that was in the transportation bill the governor vetoed, so is she saying passing the gas tax in a bill the governor described as "ridiculous" was actually "political courage"?

"Absolutely not," Turmail said. "She hasn't weighed in on the gas tax at the state level, but she opposes it at the national level."

"Would she like to weigh in on the state gas tax?" I asked.

"It's not proven to reduce congestion and when you' ve got a national energy policy on reducing gasoline consumption, it doesn't make some sense to increase it in order to pay for transportation projects," he said.

MPR's Tim Pugmire reports that Rep. Neil Peterson and Rep. Ron Ron Erhardt, two Republicans who were branded for their vote in support of the tax, were at the event in Bloomington.

The press folks were interested in other issues and questions. Too bad. It could've been a fabulous line of questioning.

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