Capitol View: October 23, 2009 Archive

Another union backing Clark in 6th

Posted at 11:45 AM on October 23, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (1 Comments)

The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 49 announced today that it has endorsed state Sen. Tarry Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, in her 6th district congressional bid.

It's the latest in a growing list of labor endorsements for Clark. The other DFL candidate in the 6th, Dr. Maureen Reed, has complained that she was overlooked by several unions. Reed is no longer pledging to abide by the DFL endorsement.

Here's the IUOE news release:

OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL 49 ENDORSES CLARK FOR CONGRESS

Thousands more working men and women voice their support for Clark's campaign

The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 49 today announced its endorsement of Tarryl Clark for Congress. Local 49 cited Clark's strong record of fighting on behalf of the working men and women of our state, from job creation to transportation, and her ability to put together a winning campaign.

"At the State Capitol or on the campaign trail, Tarryl is a proven leader," said Business Manager Glen Johnson. "For too long, Michele Bachmann has turned her back on the working people of her district. She's done nothing to create jobs, to fix our roads and bridges, or to ensure Minnesota's working people can succeed. While Michele has ignored these issues in Congress, these are the issues Tarryl Clark has always championed. We are proud to endorse her, and our thousands of members will work to ensure she is elected."

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On second thought...

Posted at 1:23 PM on October 23, 2009 by Tom Scheck

Gov. Pawlenty was criticized by the conservative RedState and other blogs after he told reporters that he said he didn't know enough about the candidates in New York State's 23rd congressional district race to make an endorsement. The race features the Republican Party endorsed Dede Scozzafava and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman. Hoffman received backing from Sarah Palin and GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann. Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich is backing Scozzafava.

ABC News has now posted video of Pawlenty saying he still doesn't know enough about the candidates but may endorse a candidate in the race soon. He added that he has concerns about Scozzafava(Pawlenty's interview starts about three minutes in). Pawlenty also addresses immigration, health care and Afghanistan.

Franken wants answers about airliner

Posted at 3:54 PM on October 23, 2009 by Tim Pugmire

U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., wants to now why a commercial airliner overshot Minneapolis-St. Paul by 150 miles earlier this week. Franken sent a letter today to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood asking for an immediate investigation of the incident, as well as a review of the "Sterile Cockpit Rule."

Here's Franken's news release:

Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) called on Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to expedite his investigation into the incident involving Flight 1888, which stopped responding to air traffic control for 75 minutes and overshot its Minneapolis Airport destination by 150 miles.

"Minnesotans deserve to understand what went so terribly wrong," said Sen. Franken. "Yesterday's overshoot and the nine hour Rochester tarmac delay in August both highlight the critical need to revamp our national air traffic control system. This isn't the first time Minnesotans have been subject to gross negligence on the part of the airline industry - but it ought to be the last."

In August, a plane was stranded on the tarmac in Rochester overnight. The airport would not allow the passengers to deplane and they were stuck in their seats without access to food, water, or clean bathroom facilities.

In both the Minneapolis incident and the Rochester incident, the "sterile cockpit rule" may have contributed to the problem. Originally implemented to prevent pilots from engaging in idle chatter, the rule may now be preventing flight crews from communicating with the cockpit in urgent situations. In both instances, flight crews appeared more aware of the situation in the cabin than the pilots or airports.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting an investigation into yesterday's overshoot and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently reviewing the rules governing how many hours commercial pilots may fly and remain on duty. In addition to the steps already being taken, Sen. Franken requests a review of the "sterile cockpit rule" and its implementation to improve communications between all parties involved in commercial flights.

For your viewing pleasure...

Posted at 6:10 PM on October 23, 2009 by Tom Scheck

Here's a look at who's on this weekend's shows...

TPT's Almanac:
This week on Almanac Mike Osterholm stops by to talk about H1N1 influenza, Minnesotan Farheen Hakeem talks about being elected National Co-Chair of the Green Party and a debate on Instant Runoff Voting.

KSTP's At Issue:
State Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL candidate for Governor and Political analysts Ember Reichgott Junge, Annette Meeks, Cathie Hartnett and Dave Thompson.

WCCO's Sunday Morning:
They didn't provide me with a guest list..

Capitol Report:
A newly formed committee tasked with long range budget planning held its first meeting, and Senate leaders offer their perspective on ways the state can regain solid, financial footing. Plus, Dr. Larry Jacobs, Director of the Institute of Policy and Governance at the Humphrey Institute, considers whether state governance is on the verge of a political crisis.

ABC's "This Week" - Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" - Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" - Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

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CNN's "State of the Union" - Afghan presidential candidate and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah; Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Jim Webb, D-Va.; Ed Gillespie, former Bush White House counselor.

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"Fox News Sunday" - Abdullah; Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; R. Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Mike Tuffin, of America's Health Insurance Plans.

Pawlenty says he'd lead charge to opt out of federal health care

Posted at 9:16 PM on October 23, 2009 by Tom Scheck (4 Comments)

Gov. Pawlenty told ABC's Topline webcast that he would lead the charge of opting out of any federal health care bill that would include a public option.

The proposal is gaining traction on Capitol Hill where House and Senate Democrats are taking the temperature of their members to see what plan works. No word on how the opt out plan would work or when it would kick in. So theoretically, Pawlenty may not be governor if and when the plan kicks in. If a decision was required by next year, he would also face a DFL controlled Legislature that would be less likely to back Pawlenty's "charge" to opt out of a federal package.

Here's the transcript from Topline.

ABC's David Chalian: "Would you opt out, would Minnesota opt out of a public option?"

Gov. Pawlenty: "I don't know if I would opt out but I personally would like to opt out because I don't like government run health care. We shouldn't call it the public option we should call it what it is which is government run health care.

They are desperate, the Democrats are thrashing about, to figure out some way to get government run health care into the final package, embedded into the final package. And their rationale is we have to keep the private sector honest. So what's next then? If you don't like the price of toilet paper toothpaste would you create a government Target or a Wal-Mart to keep the private sector honest. It's a ludicrous proposition that government is going to come into this space and compete directly with the private sector. Whether it's opt in, opt out, trigger, I don't care. I don't like the idea..."

Chalian: "You would lead a charge in your state to opt out if that option was available?"

Pawlenty: "Well, I think so because I don't like government run health care."

ABC's Rick Klein: "I can understand you saying that it's not right for Minnesota. Would you have a problem with that being there for other states as an option. It may not be right in Minnesota but the governor from another state may say 'That is what I want."

Pawlenty: "Well there is a philosophical issue here about what should the federal government be doing and one of the things that they shouldn't be doing is continuing to add entitlement programs to their portfolio. They put on a pathway to bankruptcy every entitlement program that they currently run, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and others. Why would we give them another one when they can't even run the ones that they have?

Klein: "But what about the states having that option? If a state says this is right for it, do it. If it's not right for it then don't do it?

Pawlenty: "In terms of the state option, it's better than having them mandate it but I still don't like the idea, philosophically, of government run health insurance. I think it's a bad idea."

UPDATE: DFL state Rep. Tom Huntley tells the Pi Press that any opt out strategy would require legislation and he said lawmakers aren't interested:

"Why would you say no to something (when) you don't know what the details are?" Huntley said. "This is the typical Republican 'just say no' to anything on health care."

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