News Cut: November 7, 2008 Archive

Catching up with Jim

Posted at 7:52 AM on November 7, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics, The political conventions

Of all the people I met in this campaign season, none was more impressive than Jim Felder of Ohio, who was so moved by Barack Obama in the late stages of the primary season that he and his wife jumped in the car and headed to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, just to be in the same city.

He was more than content to hand out maps to visitors:

After Tuesday night's Obama victory, I called Jim but he wasn't home. Yesterday he sent me an e-mail:

It was a real pleasure to receive a folllow -up message from you! Your interview with me made me a"star"(?) here in my hometown(smile). It was seen by many of my friends.You gave me good karma, because as we were walking away from your interview, my niece and I were approached by a young woman from California doing a documentary, and she asked if we would consent to an interview - of course we could not turn her down(another smile).Then after the big doings at Invesco Field, and about 1 AM as I was walking into my hotel lobby, an Irish Union official asked if he could interview me and again I agreed. I have not seen any of these interviews, but hope lives!

We have been on cloud 9 since Tuesday evening. The local county(Greene) Democrats had an election party which we attended for a short time, and then a large group of us left for a private home where we made a lot of joyous noise that lasted until about 2 AM. At 12 noon on Wednesday, we attended a celebration at a restaurant/bar located in our downtown district(Our village is less than 4000 population).The final event was a quiet(?) dinner party at the home of a dentist friend who lives outside our village. The last few days have been a blast!

I believe that the right person was elected and with time, he will do great things for this country and repair the damage done by the present politicians.

Comment on this post

Unemployment by the numbers

Posted at 8:03 AM on November 7, 2008 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Economy

The latest unemployment figures came out this morning. They're bad. Read bad. Worse than professional pessimists thought.

The U.S. economy has lost more than 1 million jobs so far this year, the statistics show. The rate edged up to 6.5 percent, the highest in 14 years.

But here's the startling figure in today's report: In the past year, 2.8 million jobs have vanished.

How many is 2.8 million? Fifty-nine thousand less than the total number of people who voted for the three main candidates in Tuesday's election in Minnesota. Imagine every person voting being out of work.

Other data:

The unemployment rate for whites is 5.9%. For African Americans it's 11.1%. It's 8.8% for Hispanics.

The unemployment rate for women is a full 1% lower than for men.

The average weekly paycheck is $611.86.

6.7 million took on part-time jobs in October to help make ends meet. (Note: I believe MPR's Elizabeth Stawicki will have a local story about this on tonight's All Things Considered)

Tell your kids to go into the health care business: The industry has added 348,000 jobs in the last year. The mining industry has also added jobs.

The sector with the largest increase in employment last month: Government.

Comment on this post

$2 gas

Posted at 11:03 AM on November 7, 2008 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Energy

"They" said we'd never see it again, but while we were otherwise preoccupied this week, the price of a gallon of gas in Minnesota fell below $2. It's below $1.90 in some locations today, according to twincitiesgasprices.com.

If you changed your driving habits when it shot up to near $4, are you changing your habits back now?

Comment on this post

Live-blogging: Mark Ritchie

Posted at 11:14 AM on November 7, 2008 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is on MPR's Midday this morning and has provided more insight into what's going on out at the counties, as numbers change in dribs and drabs. He says they're not looking at the ballots themselves, they're looking at ballot tally sheets for errors. It won't be until there's actually a recount when people look at already-counted ballots.

Q: Is there any chance ballots can be tampered with?
A: I have extremely high confidence in the 87 county officials. The ballots are under control of very carefully aware and dedicated local election officials. Could someone come in with dynamite and blow up the place? That happened in Minnesota's first gubernatorial race, but they're under very tight protection now.

Q: What's the likelihood of overturning the result?
A: You do a recount not knowing what the result will be. Anyone who says a recount never ends up overturning a result, aren't respecting the recount process. To predict the outcome is to dismiss the recount process.

Q: Have absentee ballots been counted?
A: There's been a persistent rumor that absentee ballots are not counted until later. Absentee ballots must be received on or before Election Day. If it comes one day late, it's not counted. Ballots are received at the county courthouse and then delivered to the precinct where they belong, they're marked on the roster to be sure they haven't already voted, they are run through the machine by the end of the day.

Q: I read the average cost per ballot is 3 cents. How is that counted? What would be the scenario if either candidate waived the recount, and then the result changes?
A: Elections are not competitions between two candidates; we think of them as taking the poll of the citizens and they determine the outcome of elections. Suggesting we not have a recount is like the Supreme Court ending the recount in Florida. We are better off than Georgia, which instead of a recount, we'd have to have another election.

The 3-cents a ballot was negotiated with the counties. Instead of $4 or $5 million election, this will cost us $80-90,000.

Q: Why is Franken getting all the recent votes?
A: If you're implying that county auditors are dishonest, it flies in the face of county officials. Norm Coleman's numbers went up today. It seems to be part of a partisan strategy to create a cloud around something that is very common in Minnesota. Election workers are "amazing" and to imply a transposition of a number was dishonest, is not my experience.

Q: Will lawsuits shorten recount process?
A:They can take it to court after the recount. I don't have any kind of insight into what the parties are trying to promote. I'm assuming what the party attorneys will try to do is create a partisan advantage to themselves in hopes of getting a judge who will be more partisan. But I don't have an inside look into those party strategies. We stay out of the partisan process.

Q: is it possible the court can make the recount irrelevant?
A: Yes.

Q: How would a court-ordered recount be done?
A: I have no idea what a court-ordered recount would be done. There's a lot of sensitivity to judges stepping in an overturning an election. Our job is determining what is the will of the people. This battling between candidates diminishes the role of the citizens.

Q: Are there outside attorneys showing up?
A: I hear they're still trying to get seats on the airplanes. But I've heard there will be outside gunslingers. But we stay out of that.

Q: In the event of a perfect tie, is it possible to do a re-vote between just the two parties?
A: In state law, there's a procedure established, but I believe there is a coin toss. We don't have provisions for re-elections.

Q: Why do you think it'll take months less to recount the ballots compared to the 1962 gubernatorial election, and how accurate are the machines that count the ballots?
A: (It was 139 days in 1962). We just completed a statewide recount of 400,000 ballots. For some towns it took an hour, in some cities it took a day and a half. This is more ballots so it'll take 15-16 days based on that. We will start on November 19 and we'll have the whole process completed within a month. We did it in three days in our recent example so we feel we have a good handle on how long it will take.

The only differences we've found is where ovals weren't marked correctly.A few votes in every thousand are marked that way. The machines are very accurate. But citizens voting mark them in ways that can only be determined by physically looking at them.

(Update: Coleman lead just increased to 239)

Q: Do the votes that are coming in now include mis-marked ballots?
A: No. The preliminary numbers are only looking at the results indicated by the machine totals.

Q: Why were voters in Woodbury sent to get new drivers' licenses on Tuesday?
A: (Eichten rephrases to general question on irregularities) If parties go to court, then the irregularities would be part of the process. In Woodbury, the election judge was working in a proper manner in the sense the county's kept driver's license bureaus open late. The laws are strict. You have to have these documents. So they could go over and get an ID card or update their driver's license and then go back and vote. It breaks the heart of most elected officials when someone who is clearly eligible, doesn't have that last piece of paper for proof. It's like the ballot from Baghdad that shows up on Wednesday. It's one day late and it doesn't count.

Q: Those who were properly registered, do not have to show ID.
A: Correct.

Q: If one candidate wins the first election, and another wins the recount, why not have a third count?
A: No one wins the first count. It's an automatic recount.

Q: Who names the Canvassing Board
A: We've asked the chief justice to name two people, and we've asked the chief judge in Ramsey County to name two people. I do not believe the judges have a partisan view.

Q: You're a DFLer. Can Republicans feel they'll get a fair shake from you?
A: I was elected as a Democrat but I took an oath of office to uphold the constitution of the state and the nation. Keep in mind, elections are run at the county level. It's about trust in this system of local election officials from the bottom to the top.

Q: (A clerk from a township) The voting machines are accurate by the Xs and checkmarks should not have gone into the machines because the machine kicks it back out and we have to look at it and say to the voter, 'You can't do it that way' and they have to remake their ballot. If the machine is working correctly, there would be no reason why the ballot would've gotten into the machine at all.
A: It's probably because the person hits "accept my ballot anyhow." It happens about 2 per thousand that they get through. The machine might've counted it as a non-vote.

Q: Shouldn't you know how many bad ballots there are by the end of the day at an election?
A: Yes, but if you didn't mark your box correctly, it would indicate a non-vote on that race. But the number of ballots handed out and the number returned would balance out.

Q: Will we have a U.S. senator seated in Washington on January 20th.
A: I'll got out on a limb and say 'yes.'

Here's the second half of Secretary Ritchie's appearance on Midday.

	Barkley	Coleman	Franken	Total	Diff
9:20 AM	437,345	1,211,520	1,211,083	2,859,948	437
12:41 PM	437,345	1,211,527	1,211,189	2,860,061	338
12:45 PM	437,378	1,211,527	1,211,189	2,860,094	338
1:03 PM	437,378	1,211,526	1,211,190	2,860,094	336
1:24 PM	437,378	1,211,527	1,211,190	2,860,095	337
1:48 PM	437,376	1,211,527	1,211,189	2,860,092	338
1:55 PM	437,376	1,211,538	1,211,197	2,860,111	341
3:44 PM	437,377	1,211,542	1,211,206	2,860,125	336
4:29 PM	437,187	1,211,077	1,210,487	2,858,751	590
4:52 PM	437,377	1,211,542	1,211,206	2,860,125	336
8:50 am Fri	437,377	1,211,542	1,211,306	2,860,225	236
10:10 AM	437,378	1,211,543	1,211,305	2,860,226	238
1:04 PM	437,377	1,211,540	1,211,301	2,860,218	239

Comment on this post

How to ruin your day

Posted at 12:37 PM on November 7, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice

Just by looking out the window of the world headquarters of News Cut, we see a lot of good reminders. Unfortunately, today's is a reminder to pay attention to people in crosswalks.

Comment on this post

Election and recount: The view from Washington County

Posted at 12:39 PM on November 7, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

I'm checking with several elections officials in Minnesota counties today, getting some insight into the pre- and post-election life.

This afternoon I talked with Kevin Corbid, who is in charge of elections in Washington County. He and a staff of four full-time people, augmented by another dozen or so temporary workers, had already invested hundreds of hours before Tuesday, processing absentee ballots and getting ready for Tuesday's vote.

Unlike some counties, Washington County recovers all voting machinery and paperwork on the night of the election, inputs the information from new registration and, of course, tabulating and entering the results. Most of his staff left at 3 a.m. Wednesday. He left at 5, and was back at 8.

"During elections, I don't care who wins, I normally root for whoever wins to win by a lot," he joked this afternoon. That, of course, hasn't worked out this time. As of 12:45, this afternoon, Norm Coleman led Al Franken by just 239 votes in the U.S. Senate race. Now, Corbid and his staff are finishing up the "canvassing" portion of Tuesday's vote -- doublechecking tabulation sheets. The county canvassing authorities had their meeting this morning.

"I've been doing this for eight years and I hold my breath every year," he told me. "This morning we were looking at Stillwater's 4th Precinct and one of the gentleman reading the summary tape said "643" and our sheets said "645" and we all looked up and I stopped breathing.. 'Whoops, sorry... 643' he said."

The ballots from Tuesday's election are in a locked room behind several other doors requiring a card reader to enter. "Observers" from both campaigns are sitting in the lobby.

"What are they doing?" I asked.

"Observing, I guess," he said.

Corbid figures Washington County will complete the recount process in four days. They'll start on Wednesday November 19 and continue through the following Saturday morning. Officials have to go through 137,000 ballots.

The public can attend the recount, although, Corbid notes, many people show up at the start of the recount to watch, and leave after a few hours.

The recount will occupy about 35 county employees, many of whom are also in the middle of other critical tasks at this time of the year -- Truth in Taxation notices, converting to a new taxation system, finishing assessments, for example.

But in the end, he likes the message that this election is sending to the people of Minnesota. "Normally the process and the recounts lead to results that provide more confidence in the process," he said.

Comment on this post

Live-blogging: Barack Obama's first news conference

Posted at 1:35 PM on November 7, 2008 by Bob Collins (45 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

I'm on All Things Considered tonight to talk about your reaction to Barack Obama's first news conference. So, well, please have one, and post it below. The more insightful, the better your odds of being part of radio history.

1:31 p.m. - Again, Obama will be speaking on a set full of American flags. What does that mean? Are a dozen American flags more patriotic than one? We're told there's a delay in the start of the news conference.

The set is reminiscent of the set in Denver:

1:39 p.m. - A reader sends a quite-correct e-mail. Why are NPR announces referring to him as Mr. Obama? The correct way to identify him is still Senator Obama.

1:50 p.m. - Still waiting. "Clinton time" returns to Washington. A commenter asks what's the seal above the sign on the podium?

1:51 p.m. - Robert Reich is on the podium. So is Robert Rubin and John Summers are there, too. It really is the Clinton administration.

We're underway.

We've lost 1.2 million jobs this year. Tens of millions of families are struggling to pay the bills. It's an urgent reminder we're facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime. Obama stresses the President Bush is still in charge.

1:54 p.m. He says he'll take the issue "head on" after he becomes president. He calls for a plan for the middle class. An urgent priority is an extension of unemployment insurance benefits. A fiscal stimulus plan is long overdue. Also have to address spreading economic crisis -- small businesses unable to meet payroll, and tax increases.

The auto industry is the backbone of American manufacturing. Would like to see the administration accelerate retooling of manufacturing. Wants transition team to work on additional measures for more fuel efficient cars.

Third, review of administration's actions to make sure we're not rewarding CEOs. Wants HUD to use authority it already has to help people stay in their homes.

Says he doesn't underestimate the enormity of the task ahead. The choices we make will be difficult. It won't be quick or easy to dig "ourselves out of the hole that we're in. But America is a strong and resilient country and we will succeed if we put aside partisanship and politics.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q: What can you do in the first 100 days?
A: We've taken some action so far, more will be needed. The transition team will be monitoring what happens. We are going to need a stimulus package passed before or after inauguration. Going to have to focus on jobs because it impacts consumer confidence. Will be important to provide assistance to state and local governments.

Q: Are you confident you can pass stimulus package
I want to see one sooner rather than later. If it doesn't get done in lame duck session, it'll be the first thing to get done as president of the United States.

Q: Have you responded to president of Iran's congratulations?
A: I am aware the letter was sent. Iran's development of a nuclear weapon is unacceptable.

Q: When you disagree with decisions President Bush makes, will you defer?
A; President Bush invited me to meet with him on Monday. I'm sure that in addition to taking the tour of the White House there will be a substantive conversation. I'm going to go in there with a spirit of bipartisanship and the understanding that the president and leaders of Congress understand the situation and want to get things done. There are differences, even among people of the same party. The critical tone that has to be struck is the American people need help, this economy is in bad shape, and we have just created one of the longest election cycles in recorded history. Now's a good time to set politics aside and think practically about what's needed.

Q: Do you need to move quickly to name treasury secretary and secretary of state?
A; When there's an announcement to be made, we'll make it. (Blog: Who might be in Obama's cabinet)

Linda Wertheimer interrupts broadcast to tell us we're listening to Barack Obama. It was when a local reporter asked about the governor naming a successor to Obama. That's a concern outside the Beltway, so it's not a concern of Linda's.

Q: What kind of dog are you going to buy, and public/private school for daughters?
A: I've talked to former presidents and read Lincoln's writings. Re: Dog.This is a major issue that's generated more interest on our Web site than anything (Bob: Oh brother). One daughter is allergic to dogs so it has to be hypoallergenic, but our preference is it needs to be a shelter dog. A mutt... like me.

Schools: Michele will be scouting out some schools.

Q: What's your view of American intelligence? Has anything you've heard given you pause about anything you've talked about on the campaign trail?
A: If there was something I heard, I couldn't tell you. Our intelligence process can always improve; it has gotten better.

Q: Do you still intend to seek tax increases on upper-income Americans?
A: Restates campaign stump speech. "My priority is going to be, 'how to grow the economy.'" Says he still thinks it's the right plan but clearly leaves the door open to bag the tax increase.

Says that's it and says "thanks a lot, guys." And as long as we're criticizing NPR for its incorrect use of language, I'll admit that it drives me crazy when people refer to a group of people that includes women as "guys."

There it is, what do you think?

Update 2:50 p.m. - My appearance on All Things Considered has been canceled because the comments aren't up to what they want to hear and they're not interested in my observations. But here is my observation. Are America's newsrooms up to the challenge of covering a president they so obviously love? There's a certain "teen dance" vibe I see when reporters watch Obama. After today's news conference, Twitter, for example, was all, ummm... atwitter about the "mutt" comment and about how smooth Obama was and how fun he is to listen to. OK, I get that. But what about what he said in terms of substance? He didn't offer much, but that crack in the door he presented on his economic plan is the kind of thing newsies would drive a truck through under the Bush administration.

There is a certain honeymoon with an incoming president, to be sure. But from the start, here, it's not looking good for the willingness to ask -- let alone later discuss -- tough questions.

The sixth question at the first news conference asked of the new leader of the free world, on a day when the economic news was the worst yet.... was about a dog. It fairly boggles the mind.

3:10 p.m. This advisory just in from Washington:

LETTERS -- Most listener comments about yesterday's show were about one of the more SERIOUS stories: speculation about the Obama family dog! Robert Siegel and Michele Norris read from listeners e-mails. (02:15)

Most? Suddenly, our economic woes seem the least of the nation's problems. And I'm reminded of how I fell in love one morning with a president because he went to the White House kitchen and toasted his own English muffin. Gerald Ford.

4:42 p.m. Just did my "rant" with Mary Lucia of the Current (I can still get on the radio somewhere!).

Reactions pouring in. OK, two three.

His rant about the press conference is right on the money. See if you can find a song about fake, superficial people, or people willingly being swindled. I'd suggest "Liar" by Rollins Band but Jill Riley played it last night.

Long-time Current fan, first time Bob Collins fan,

Dave (Last name withheld)

I listened to you talk about your rant today about the fawning press and the serious issues that we have going on in our country right now. I couldn't agree with you more! Keep doing what you're doing, we need people like you around.

Thanks for solid opinions. - Laura.

Opinions? Shhhhh. They're "observations."

Please let him know that there still are people out there who want smart news. That's why I listen to 89.3 The Current!

I love what you all are doing there. Keep up the fantastic work.

- Deb

I feel consensus building. Not just any consensus, bipartisan consensus. How quickly can you all get through school and get jobs in journalism? I'm serious here: We're surrounded by reporters asking questions about dogs and TV networks who send reporters out to report from places where nothing is happening, just to present the "feel" of them being "out there" and then electronically "beam them" back in the studio.

Whatever you think is wrong with the news media and news consumer appetite, seriously, it's much worse. And there's no Daily Show on Friday to get that point across tonight.

6:41 p.m.: From AP:

President-elect Obama has called Nancy Reagan to apologize for joking that she held seances in the White House. At a news conference Friday, Obama said he had spoken with all the living presidents. Then he smiled and said he didn't want to get into a "Nancy Reagan thing" about doing seances. The former first lady had consulted with astrologers during her husband's presidency. But she did not hold conversations with the dead.

Well, great, then. The news conference to apology ratio is now at 1:1.

Comment on this post

When people do great things

Posted at 6:51 PM on November 7, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Health

Let's leave this week behind on an uplifting note.

Lost among all of the political stories this week was a charming story from MPR's Lorna Benson on the 40th anniversary of the Bone and Marrow Transplant Program at the University of Minnesota.

The story started with this passage:

Dr. John Kersey was a U of M medical student when his mentor Dr. Robert Good used bone marrow stem cells to successfully treat a 4-month old boy. The baby suffered from a genetic immune system disease that had killed 11 male children in his extended family.

Dr. Good and his team were determined to figure out a way to save the infant, Kersey says.

"Back in those days it was very common for people to say if a child has a very severe disease there's nothing that can be done about it. And the attitude amongst my colleagues here was, 'No. We should be trying new things. We should be doing things we can to cure these diseases.'"

It took two transplants, but eventually the baby recovered.

U of M doctors succeeded where others had failed because they focused on getting the best bone marrow match possible for their young patient, Kersey says.

This afternoon, we received this e-mail from Cynthia Olson of Minneapolis:

As I listened to your story about the first bone marrow transplant on a baby at the U of M hospital in 1968, I went flying back in time, to a rocking chair in the nursery with that baby in my arms. I was a nursing student working nights that summer. One night I was charged with caring for that little guy. As I rocked the baby in the quiet darkness a doctor entered the nursery. He told me (playfully) not to drop the baby because this baby was making history. It was so thrilling to hear a forty year old man talking about his life saving procedure. Thanks for the update.

And thanks for the reminder that people can do great things.

Comment on this post

News rack war

Posted at 7:32 PM on November 7, 2008 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Media

The news rack war has returned.

The Minneapolis City Council today introduced an ordinance to charge newspapers fees for newspaper racks. According to WCCO:

"There'll be a fee, yeah. There'll be a fee imposed, $39 per box, per year," said Minneapolis city councilmember Ralph Remington.

For the free Downtown Journal -- with more than 100 boxes -- that adds up.

"What's it going to do to me if I got to shell out, you know, half a salary on news boxes that I haven't ever had to shell out before? I'm either going to raise my advertising rates or I'm going to lay somebody off," said Downtown Journal publisher Terry Gahan.

This could be a battle of attrition, literally. There are some fees already in place in St. Paul. But in the past, this has been a contentious issue that ends up in the court in a battle over the First Amendment.

Atlanta, for example, tried imposing fees on newspaper racks during the Atlanta Olympics, according to the First Amendment Center:

The appeals court also struck down an Atlanta license-fee plan for news racks as imposing too high a price to pay for the exercise of First Amendment freedoms. Citing an earlier decision, the appeals court reasoned that cities can charge licensing fees as long as the fees do not cover more than what is needed to offset administrative costs.

Times have changed since the big court battles of the '80s and '90s, though. Cities don't have the money to waste on lawsuits, and newspapers don't even have the money left to get the news, let alone go to court.

So the solution will likely be the "new economy" way of doing things -- the two sides will cut a deal.

Comment on this post