Hoeven giving taxpayer money away?

Here's a letter to the editor from the Bismarck Tribune today. The headline is "No one retires at 51." Click on the link below. You have to scroll down to get at it on the Tribune's website.

I'll give you some background info:

Governor Hoeven has recently given nearly $53,000 to a Cabinet member for severance pay. This was a few years earlier than our laws say collecting the money can begin. His chief of staff said it was the only time they have given a payment to a departing Cabinet member (The Forum 8/26/05). Even Republicans have blasted the Hoeven Administration for this.

Read the letter...

Exciting News: New North Dakota Windfarm!

There will be an announcement for a new North Dakota windfarm today just north of Velva.

Senator Kent Conrad will be joined by Senator Byron Dorgan and community leaders for the groundbreaking of XCEL Energy and EHN’s new Wind Farm. Xcel Energy is the nation’s second largest retail provider of wind-generated electricity in the United States, delivering about 10% of all the wind power sold in the country.

I will post a news story once it hits the wire. You heard it here first!

Bush's failing economic policies

Washington, DC - Today, the Census Bureau issued its latest national report on income, poverty and health insurance. The figures are troubling. Under President Bush's failed leadership, wages have actually declined by nearly $1,700 and more than a million middle class Americans fell into poverty. The number of Americans without health insurance has also increased by 6 million since Bush took office in 2001.

Senator Conrad's plan to help lower gas prices

Gas prices have hit $2.85 in Bismarck. To say the least, it's getting out of control.

Senator Kent Conrad has produced a comprehensive plan to lower gas prices and lower our dependence on foreign oil. His solution is simple: release some fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, give tax breaks for fuel efficient vehicles, increase the usage of renewable fuels, and give more resources for research and development for hydrogen technology. To see his entire plan click below.


Click here...

Looking out for our ranchers

Senator Byron Dorgan and Congressman Earl Pomeroy held a congressional hearing today about grazing policies in our grasslands. The Missouri Room at Bismarck State College was packed.

As the ranking Democrat on the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Dorgan is concerned with the U.S. Forest Service’s new proposed grazing policies, which the Senator said could threaten North Dakota ranchers’ abilities to obtain grazing permits.

There are four federally owned stretches of prairie in North and South Dakota – the Little Missouri National Grasslands, Sheyenne National Grasslands, Cedar River National Grasslands and Grand River National Grasslands. In some areas of the state, up to 70 percent of ranchers could be affected by the policies.

Read the story...

Hoeven giving away taxpayer money?

Governor Hoeven has recently given nearly $53,000 to a Cabinet member for severance pay. This was a few years earlier than our laws say collecting the money can begin. His chief of staff said it was the only time they have given a payment to a departing Cabinet member (The Forum 8/26/05). Even Republicans have blasted the Hoeven Administration for this. Take the time to read the whole article.

Read the article...

BRAC Votes for GFAFB Tankers

Here's an excerpt from Senator Conrad's press release today. You heard it here first. Way to go delegation!


"Washington - Following an intense campaign of persuasion by North Dakota’s congressional delegation and governor, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission voted unanimously to keep eight KC-135 tankers at Grand Forks Air Force Base until the end of 2010 - providing a “bridge” to the new generation of tankers expected in 2012."

Update: The language saying there will be no flying mission for the Happy Hooligans has been changed for the better.

Robert Novak's column rips Thune!

Read conservative pundit Robert Novak's column about John Thune. We aren't going to let this happen here in North Dakota. The one thing Novak got wrong was calling Sens. Dorgan and Conrad very partisan. They work with folks on both sides often.

Read on...

Sorry to erase comments!

I have them archived just in case. I'm using a new comment system, so you can use trackback. Trackback is a popular tool for blogs, and we need to keep this up to date. Please, comment away on the new system!

Lloyd Omdahl's recent column

With the recent "No Child Left Behind" lawsuit in Connecticut and a report saying high school graduation rates have dropped in North Dakota, are the underfunded policies of the Republicans working? In our opinion, no.

In his recent column, Mr. Omdahl points out the failures in these policies. Mr. Omdahl is a professor at UND and should be on any North Dakotan's reading list.

Read the article...

Minnesota's Rep. Mark Kennedy (R) out of touch?

Here's a link to Rep. Mark Kennedy's (R) op-ed on CAFTA from The Forum today. He is pro-CAFTA and "free trade." Do you think his views are in accord with the people of the Red River Valley? After all, the CAFTA agreement will hurt the sugar industry. He and Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) voted for CAFTA.

Read the article...

Senator Conrad's op-ed in The Forum

Everyone should read this op-ed about energy in North Dakota. It gives much insight into what our boys in Washington do for our state on this issue.

Read the article...

Heidi Heitkamp for citizen's property rights

Do you think local government should be able to take your property away for its benefit? Heitkamp doesn't! Here's a story from the Bismarck Tribune. What do you think about it? It's going to take nearly 26,000 signatures for an initiated measure.

Read on...

North Dakota Senators get high approval ratings

Senators Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad rated 4th and 5th in the country in a survey conducted by SurveyUSA. Check it out!

Survey Says

Eminent Domain

What's your view on eminent domain for economic development purposes? This has been a hot issue in Fargo for awhile.

Liffrig at it again?

Check this out. Mike Liffrig's old campaign site has turned into a fundraising pledge tool for the Republican Senate candidate. Who is he in cahoots with, or is he running again?

http://www.mike4senate.com/

The Forum tells Hoeven not to run

Forum editorial: Air bases campaign has lessons
The Forum
Published Sunday, July 24, 2005

Excerpt:

"Putting politics aside could not have been easy, especially for the governor and Sen. Kent Conrad because Hoeven is being pushed by his party to run against the senator in next year's election. If they do take each other on, it will be difficult for either of them to find fault with the other's performance in the air base campaign.

(By the way, at this point we urge the governor to shun such a race.)"

Read the whole article...

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=98374&section=Opinion

Will Hoeven Run?

This is the burning question everyone is asking. What do you think? Please don't be afraid to post your comments.

Will Hoeven break his promise of finishing his second term? Let us hear what you have to say.

Bush vows to eliminate U.S. dependence on oil by 4920

The Onion
10 August 2005

WASHINGTON, DC—President Bush unveiled an aggressive initiative Monday that would make the U.S. free of petroleum dependence by the year 4920, less than three millennia from now.
Above: President Bush presents his plan for our nation's far future.

"Our mission is clear," Bush said in a speech delivered at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. "We must free ourselves from dependence on fossil fuels within 85 generations. A cleaner, safer America is my vision. And it is our great, great—great-times-80 grandchildren who will realize that vision."

Read on...

http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4132

MUSIC: Stones sing about Bush as jeers go by

Upcoming album incites a buzz from conservatives

By Helen Kennedy
New York Daily News

The normally apolitical Rolling Stones have no sympathy for President Bush.
In the refrain of the 13th track on their upcoming album, frontman Mick Jagger belts out the refrain: "How come you're so wrong, my sweet neo-con?"

"You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite," the verse goes. "You call yourself a patriot. Well, I think you are full of s-!"

Fans have been buzzing about the tune for months, with many up in arms over rumors that Virgin Records cut it from the final disc, fearing America's conservative-owned radio networks and big-box chain stores would refuse to play or stock it.

Read on...

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/entertainment/12353760.htm

Bush's Eminent Domain?

Washington Post

By Al Kamen
Friday, July 8, 2005; Page A21

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) is leading the Senate effort to undercut the Supreme Court's controversial ruling that allows the government to grab your family home for a relative pittance not just for a public project but to help out some private-sector fat cats.

A bipartisan coalition in the House, where a fellow Texan Republican, Majority Leader Tom DeLay , is leading the charge, passed legislation last week to deny federal funding to local governments that use their power of eminent domain for profit-making projects.

But this is a more complex matter than it seems. Sometimes such government "takings," even to enrich private companies, also can be of great benefit for the local and even national good.

Texas has not had a lot of experience in this area. The first time the power of eminent domain was used to help a private organization there was only 14 years ago. That was when state and local officials seized 13 acres of land from the heirs to television magnate Curtis Mathes so that the Texas Rangers could build their new stadium in Arlington.

This reportedly made the Rangers -- owned then in part by now-President Bush and his buddy, now the ambassador to Japan, Tom Schieffer -- a much more valuable property.

Cornyn and DeLay may argue that these kinds of takings are not right -- Bush has not said anything about the ruling -- but let's remember that without that little land deal, years of spectacular hitting (okay, so the pitching was a tad weak) might have been denied to the people of Texas, including the golden years of Rafael Palmeiro , Juan Gonzales , the young Alex Rodriguez (who signed the biggest contract in the history of baseball to leave Seattle -- 10 years at $252 million) and of course the certain Hall of Famer, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez , now with Detroit.

Dirty Tricks

Mehlman's Get out of Jail Free Card:
Another Example of the RNC's "Say One Thing, Do Another" Strategy

Washington, DC - Only days after RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman claimed that his party has a "zero-tolerance" policy against voter fraud, intimidation, and suppression, it has been reported that the Republican Party has spent more than $722,000 to defend a former Bush election official accused of conspiring to keep Democrats from voting. [BostonGlobe, 8/11/05; Letter to the American Center for Voting RightsLegislative Fund from RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, 8/9/05]

The RNC is paying the legal bills of James Tobin, a former RNC official, who is charged with four felonies accusing him of conspiring with a state Republican operative and a Virginia-based consultant to jam Democratic and labor union get-out-the-vote phone banks in New Hampshire in November 2002. [AP, 8/11/05]

As a result of the scheme, many voters were unable to receive critical information and support on Election Day. Tobin's two other associates have already plead guilty and federal prosecutors have secured testimony from them directly implicating Tobin.[AP, 8/11/05]

After his role in the 2002 scandal, Tobin was hired by Mehlman to be the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign chairman for New England.

"My counterpart has spent the past month apologizing for the southern strategy, but it seems that the southern strategy is alive and well in New England. Perhaps he should apologize to the voters of New England. Ken Mehlman tells crowds his party is against voter fraudand intimidation, while in the backrooms he supports Republican officials who engage in these dirty tricks," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "The RNC is sending a disturbing message that the Republican Party will do just about anything to win elections. You cannot claim to have a tolerance policy on voter suppression and then pay the legal bills of a top campaign official who is charged with these very same offenses."

Holy Oil Prices!

"Light, sweet crude [oil] jumped to a new intraday record Wednesday, surging $1.83 to $64.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Crude briefly touched $65 a barrel, shooting higher after the Energy Department said that while crude stocks rose last week, gasoline inventories fell 2.1 million barrels, more than expected. Crude is 49% higher year-to-date."

Insight into the Fargo City Commission Race

Four file for Fargo City Commision seat
By Barbara Raus,
The Forum
Thursday, August 11, 2005

Four candidates will vie for one Fargo City Commission vacancy next month.

Frank Anderson, Dave Engebretson, Dr. Timothy Mahoney and Brad Wimmer filed for candidacy with the city auditor. The filing period ended at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

A Sept. 13 special election will fill the seat left open when former Commissioner Thomas Lane resigned in July to take a job in Missouri. He finished his work as a commissioner Aug. 5.

The new commissioner will complete Lane’s term, which expires June 6, 2006.
Two of the candidates have previously tried for City Commission positions.

In the spring 2004 race, Anderson was unsuccessful, and Engebretson lost the 2002 election when Lane was voted to the seat now opened.

Anderson is a financial planner for vulnerable adults and seniors. After filing, he said he wants to revitalize older neighborhoods, in part by emphasizing the quality of their neighborhood elementary school.

Engebretson, a loss-prevention consultant for HSB CT, formerly known as Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co. of Connecticut, is focused on property taxes and thinks they are high because of tax breaks given to developers.

Wimmer said he has been waiting for the right time to run for a commission seat. The co-owner of Wimmer’s Jewelry said his experience as Park Board president would be an asset if elected to the commission.

Mahoney is a general and vascular surgeon at Innovis Hospital and Dakota Clinic. He said he’d like to see a focus on good economy, jobs and educational resources.

Each candidate either paid a $100 fee or submitted petitions with 300 or more signatures in order to enter the race. Anderson, Engebretson and Mahoney paid the fee, and Wimmer collected signatures.
The City Commission seat pays $19,392 annually.

Hey Dem-NPL

So, there haven't been many comments yet. In the newsletter tomorrow morning, I will be making an announcement.
I want to also state that this blog should be utilized for discussion about North Dakota issues. That's not to say we can't discuss national stuff, but the focus here should be to point out the imbalance of power in state government. I would like to invite you to post any legitimate comments about the last legislative session. We also need to make sure Senator Conrad and Congressman Pomeroy have our full support!

Conrad Kicking butt for ND

Conrad Unveils Plans for $750 Million Energy Plant

State-of-the-Art Facility Will Bring More Than 1,000 Jobs to ND, Senator says
08/09/05

Washburn — Senator Kent Conrad was joined by state and local leaders today to announce plans for a $750 million plant to be built near Washburn that would use new technology to turn coal into liquid fuels -- an energy initiative that would create more than a thousand new jobs in North Dakota.

"Coal-to-liquid fuels technology helps reduce our reliance on foreign sources of oil and improves our country's energy security," Senator Conrad said. "This proposed new plant will also strengthen North Dakota's economy, creating new jobs in the lignite coal industry, which has some of the best-paying jobs in the state."

Today's announcement was the result of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between several companies, including Great River Energy, Headwaters, Inc., North American Coal and Falkirk Mining Company. The companies have agreed to develop a state-of-the-art facility in North Dakota that is expected to produce 10,000 barrels of fuel per day.

Senator Conrad helped secure the project for North Dakota by drafting special provisions in the national energy bill that would qualify the proposed plant for federal loan guarantees. At today's ceremony, the Senator presented a copy of the law to Headwaters, Inc. and their partners, representing the loan guarantees secured from the bill, which President Bush signed into law yesterday.

The proposed Washburn plant would be America's first commercial scale facility for production of liquid transportation fuels from domestic coal. Using advanced technology, the facility would produce fuel that is cleaner and higher in performance than fuel produced from crude oil.

The plant would initially create more than 1,000 construction jobs. Once up and running in June 2009, the plant is expected to create another 300 permanent operations jobs. In addition, Headwaters has said that the plant could be expanded to a $3 billion project.

Today's announcement came during a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new U.S. Department of Energy Coal Drying Technology project at Coal Creek Station. The coal drying station will reduce emissions and improve power efficiency at Coal Creek Station.

As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Conrad crafted several provisions to the energy bill directing hundreds of millions of dollars to North Dakota's energy industry, including tax breaks for the development of clean coal technology like that being used at Coal Creek Station.

"I am delighted with the progress that is being made in North Dakota on the energy front," Senator Conrad said. "Today, North Dakota is one step closer to becoming an energy powerhouse for the nation."

It's Back!

Ok, so this blog has been neglected for awhile. That's changing! I will continue to revamp it and make it a significant part of our dialogue with North Dakota Democrats. Comments are appreciated.