Conrad taking 'bold' steps

Via the GF Herald...

VIEWPOINT: BOLD Act can serve as blueprint for energy independence
By Kent Conrad
4/30/06

WASHINGTON - Last week, crude oil prices hit $75.15 per barrel an all-time record. Here at home, prices at the pump are climbing again, approaching $3 a gallon in North Dakota. High fuel prices are becoming a major financial strain for North Dakota families, farmers and business owners.

At the same time, our nation's dependence on foreign sources of energy is posing an unacceptable risk to both our economic and national security. Currently, we import 60 percent of the oil we consume, much of it from some of the most unstable parts of the world. If we don't change course, we will continue to be vulnerable to oil production disruptions overseas.

Fortunately, there is a better way a bold new way to forge our nation's energy independence. I have introduced a comprehensive energy initiative that, if adopted, would unlock our nation's resources and break the foreign stranglehold on our energy supplies. I call it the BOLD Energy Act, for Breaking Our Long-term Dependence.

The 125-page bill was six months in the making. Writing it, I spoke to nearly every major agriculture, energy and business group in our state. The BOLD Energy Act is broad in scope and takes big strides but that is what is required if we are going to lead our nation out of this energy crisis.

Under the legislation, we would find our energy future in the Midwest rather than the Middle East. I believe we can find our energy resources in American farm fields rather than overseas oil fields.

Click here to read on...

Rick Gion's News from Headquarters

Fellow Democrats,

A few months ago, I wrote a little ditty on campaign Web sites. If I remember correctly, it pertained to the Kent Conrad, Earl Pomeroy, Roger Johnson, Brent Edison and Tim Mathern campaigns. Well, now there are a boat load of them up. That must mean the campaign season is in full gear! This column will focus on three statewide candidates’ official Web sites in alphabetical order.

Public Service Commission candidate Cheryl Bergian has posted her site as www.bergianpsc. com. The homepage boasts the background and experience that she will bring to the position and vision for the PSC. It has volunteer and donation pages, which are very important.The provider is ComMark which has offices in Mayville, N.D. and Fergus Falls, Minn. Sound familiar? State Rep. Lee Kaldor works for them.

Bill Brudvik, our candidate for Attorney General, also has a site up and running. Click here to check it out. It’s a slick looking site with nice photos. It also has donation and volunteer pages and is hosted by ComMark. Personally, I like the fact that there will be a news section on the homepage.

Be sure to bookmark these sites to check out what these candidates are up to. It is my understanding they will be trying more than ever to stop by your neck of the prairie. Visit their sites often to see if one of them will be in your neighborhood. They would appreciate your support (and a little donation I’m sure).

-Rick

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

“George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. And that may be the best-case scenario. Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history.”

So writes Princeton History Professor Sean Wilentz in a guest article in this week’s edition of Rolling Stone magazine. He’d find much agreement among North Dakotans, who, in spite of giving him a majority of the votes from this state in the 2004 election, have become increasingly disenchanted with the president’s record of corruption and incompetence.

Here are a few more excerpts from Wilentz’s lengthy article:

“George W. Bush is in serious contention for the title of worst (president) ever. In early 2004, an informal survey of 415 historians conducted by the nonpartisan History News Network found that eighty- one percent considered the Bush administration a "failure." Among those who called Bush a success, many gave the president high marks only for his ability to mobilize public support and get Congress to go along with what one historian called the administration's "pursuit of disastrous policies." In fact, roughly one in ten of those who called Bush a success was being facetious, rating him only as the best president since Bill Clinton -- a category in which Bush is the only contestant.”

“The lopsided decision of historians should give everyone pause. Contrary to popular stereotypes, historians are generally a cautious bunch. We assess the past from widely divergent points of view and are deeply concerned about being viewed as fair and accurate by our colleagues. When we make historical judgments, we are acting not as voters or even pundits, but as scholars who must evaluate all the evidence, good, bad or indifferent.”

“The monster deficits, caused by increased federal spending combined with the reduction of revenue resulting from the tax cuts, have also placed Bush's administration in a historic class of its own with respect to government borrowing. According to the Treasury Department, the forty-two presidents who held office between 1789 and 2000 borrowed a combined total of $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions. But between 2001 and 2005 alone, the Bush White House borrowed $1.05 trillion, more than all of the previous presidencies combined. Having inherited the largest federal surplus in American history in 2001, he has turned it into the largest deficit ever -- with an even higher deficit, $423 billion, forecast for fiscal year 2006. Yet Bush -- sounding much like Herbert Hoover in 1930 predicting that "prosperity is just around the corner" -- insists that he will cut federal deficits in half by 2009, and that the best way to guarantee this would be to make permanent his tax cuts, which helped cause the deficit in the first place!”

“The president came to office calling himself "a uniter, not a divider" (note—the spellchecker on my computer tells me that “uniter” is not even a word—of course lots of words (and phrases and even complete sentences) Bush uses get rejected regularly by the nation’s spellcheckers)) "and promising to soften the acrimonious tone in Washington. He has had two enormous opportunities to fulfill those pledges: first, in the noisy aftermath of his controversial election in 2000, and, even more, after the attacks of September 11th, when the nation pulled behind him as it has supported no other president in living memory. Yet under both sets of historically unprecedented circumstances, Bush has chosen to act in ways that have left the country less united and more divided, less conciliatory and more acrimonious.”

Read the entire article by clicking here.

Workers Memorial Day

You’re invited to join with all our friends in organized labor for an observance of Workers Memorial Day this Friday. The unions of the AFL-CIO will hold a memorial service for the more than 60,000 workers who died from job-related injuries and illnesses in our country last year.

The event, at 6 p.m. Friday on the Capitol steps in Bismarck, is being held to remember these workers and continue the fight for a safer workplace. The service is being sponsored by the Missouri Slope Labor Council. A reception will be held immediately following the service at the Hose of Labor, 1323 Front Avenue in Bismarck. In case of rain, the memorial service will also be held at the House of Labor.

See you on the Trail,

Jim

Bush's numbers keep dropping

Via CNN...

Bush's approval ratings slide to new low
4/24/06

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's approval ratings have sunk to a personal low, with only a third of Americans saying they approve of the way he is handling his job, a national poll released Monday said.

In the telephone poll of 1,012 adult Americans carried out Friday through Sunday by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN, 32 percent of respondents said they approve of Bush's performance, 60 percent said they disapprove and 8 percent said they do not know.

That's a significant drop from the way Americans perceived the president a year ago. In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll carried out April 29-May 1, 2005, Americans were split on their assessments of Bush's performance, with 48 percent saying they approved and 49 percent saying they disapproved.

Democratic-NPL Candidates “on Tour” for Earth Day

(Fargo) Democratic-NPL statewide and legislative candidates took an unusual tour of Fargo this Earth Day; their last stop being the city landfill.

The candidates, who were joined by sitting legislators and supporters, took a renewable energy tour of the city making stops at a Cenex station, DMI Industries and the Fargo city landfill. The outing was their way of showing support of the growing renewable energy sector in North Dakota, Democratic-NPL spokesman Rick Gion said.

The group first held a news conference at the Cenex station on Main Avenue, where sales of the ethanol blend fuel E-85 are the highest in the United States. Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson and House Assistant Minority leader Scot Kelsh (D-Fargo) spoke to the group of attendees and participants. Then all the candidates took a pledge vowing to use renewable fuels during their campaigns, and also when elected, to promote renewable energy.

The pledge reads:

“I pledge to use renewable fuels on my campaign. I promise to fill my tank with compatible fuels for my vehicle such as E-85, E-10 or biodiesel as I travel. The pledge I am taking today demonstrates that Democrats are leaders when it comes to supporting and bolstering our renewable energy sector.”

“When elected, I also pledge to promote renewable energy. North Dakota has great potential to be one of the renewable energy leaders in this country, and I will strive to make that happen.”

“This pledge carries much significance for our state,” Johnson said. “We are dramatically behind our neighboring states in renewable energy production, yet we have the resources to surpass them. This pledge by the Democratic-NPL candidates today demonstrates that these candidates are eager to make advances for our renewable energy sector.”

After the news conference, participants traveled to DMI Industries, which specializes in building windmill towers for turbines that produce electricity from wind. The group got a first hand look at how a tower is manufactured. According to DMI’s Web site, the company manufactured and delivered more than 1,500 wind towers across the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2005.

“DMI Industries plays a vital role in the wind industry across the United States,” Kelsh said. “They also play a huge role in our local economy. We are lucky to have such a cutting edge manufacturer and promoter of wind energy in our state.”

The last stop for the group was the Fargo city landfill, where landfill officials explained the dump’s innovations in utilizing renewable energy resources. Twenty methane collection wells were installed in 2002 to collect the gas, a byproduct of decomposing material. The gas is now being sold to Cargill. Recently, city officials approved a plan to add 12 wells. In the future, the city will be reaping more benefits from this innovative system.

Candidates in attendance:

Statewide: Cheryl Bergian (Public Service Commission), Bill Brudvik (Attorney General), Brent Edison (Tax Commission), Kristin Hedger (Secretary of State), Roger Johnson (Agriculture Commission)

Legislative: Arden Anderson (Wahpeton), Mary Ekstrom (Fargo), Scot Kelsh (Fargo), Jasper Schneider (Fargo), Connie Kooren (Dickinson), Steve Zaiser (Fargo)

Bush approval at 33 percent according to FOX News

Via FOX News Online...

Fox News
By Dana Blanton

NEW YORK — More Americans disapprove than approve of how George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Congress are doing their jobs, while a majority approves of Condoleezza Rice. President Bush’s approval hits a record low of 33 percent this week, clearly damaged by sinking support among Republicans.

Opinions are sharply divided on whether Rumsfeld should resign as secretary of defense. In addition, views on the economy are glum; most Americans rate the current economy negatively, and twice as many say it feels like the economy is getting worse rather than better. These are just some of the findings of the latest FOX News national poll.

President Bush’s job approval rating slipped this week and stands at a new low of 33 percent approve, down from 36 percent two weeks ago and 39 percent in mid-March. A year ago this time, 47 percent approved and two years ago 50 percent approved (April 2004).

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

Here’s what you do if you’re REALLY, REALLY rich. You get together with a bunch of your other REALLY, REALLY rich friends, and you all throw a couple million dollars in the kitty, and you form an organization, and you give it a name like Free Enterprise Institute and you set about getting your taxes cut.

A spokesman for those REALLY, REALLY rich folks came to Bismarck this week, called a press conference, and showed a tasteless television commercial they’re going to run here to try to persuade North Dakotans to persuade Senators Dorgan and Conrad to cut taxes for REALLY, REALLY rich people.

Now why would we want to do that? How dumb do they think we are? We just don’t have any REALLY, REALLY rich people here, so why would we want our Senators to vote for tax cuts for REALLY, REALLY rich people somewhere else? What sense does that make?

This Free Enterprise Institute bunch wants to eliminate the inheritance tax. So that when REALLY, REALLY rich people die, their heirs don’t have to pay any taxes on the money they inherit. You and I wouldn’t benefit by this bill. Right now, 99.9 per cent of all North Dakotans would not benefit from this bill. Only North Dakota’s version of REALLY, REALLY rich people would benefit, and they are one tenth of one percent of our population. But let’s take a look at who would benefit.

Senator Dorgan was in the news this week pointing out that Exxon Mobil Corporation just gave its Chief Executive Officer Lee Raymond a retirement package worth nearly $400 million. Gulp. That’s 400,000,000 dollars. That’s a lot of zeros.

So let’s say good old Lee has a pretty fun first year and manages to blow about $5 million of that. And then he drives his car off a cliff and doesn’t get to spend the other $395 million. Bummer. Poor Lee. So the money goes to his family. All $395 million.

But wait. Before they get it all, they have to pay some taxes on it. It’s new income to them, so they have to pay taxes, just like you and I pay taxes on our income. I don’t know how it all works, exactly, but let’s just say for the sake of an example that they have to pay, oh, 40% tax on it. That means they’d only get $237 million.

And that, Fellow Democrats, is what the Free Enterprise Institute is all about. $237 million is not enough. They want the whole enchilada, all $395 million. That, Fellow Democrats, is not free enterprise like we know it here in North Dakota. That is greed. Real greed. Pure, unadulterated greed.

And this group comes marching in here and tells us that they want us to call Kent and Byron and have them vote for that. Are they nuts? Don’t they think we know what happens when those REALLY, REALLY rich people don’t have to pay that tax any more? It means the rest of us have to pay more to make up for it. While there are almost no North Dakotans who pay estate taxes (Kent says here were only 34 in 2003, the last year he could find numbers for) because we can already pass along $2 million without paying any estate taxes, there are REALLY, REALLY rich people in other places who do, and if this estate tax on multimillionaires is repealed, it would cost our Treasury about $40 billion over the next six years. And that means taxpayers like you and me have to pick up the tab for those freeloaders. Huh-uh. No thanks.
I’m calling Kent and Byron and telling them to vote against this scheme. You should too. Their phone numbers are on our website www.demnpl.com.

Best Quote Of The Week

Byron Dorgan said it. Wish I would have: "These major oil companies have hooked their hose up to the pocketbooks of American citizens and are sucking money from ordinary Americans into the treasury of the giant oil companies.”

I’m going canoeing in the Badlands. Right now. See you next week. On the Trail.

Jim

Out-migration problem proves N.D. needs leadership change in Bismarck

The new numbers on out-migration from today's Forum article are stunning (part of the article is pasted below). From Rep. Rick Berg's (R-Fargo) comments in the article, it seems he just doesn't care about this issue. Well Rick, business won't be good here in the future if we keep losing people, especially our young. This proves Republican leadership in Bismarck is very poor. Unfortunately, they hold a supermajority in the Legislature and in the statewide offices. North Dakota needs new leadership! They need Democrats in the Capitol. They have shown much leadership already on this issue. Just read Mary Ekstrom's comments below.

N.D. out-migration figures ‘alarming’
By Patrick Springer, The Forum

North Dakota continues to be a state with more exits than entrances: The state suffered an annual average migration rate of minus 6.3 percent from 2000 to 2004, according to new census estimates.

During that five-year period, the state lost an average of 3,999 people each year, the U.S. Census Bureau’s new domestic migration analysis, which tracks people moving in and out of each state, found.

Migration studies do not count births and deaths, which are included in population estimates.
The new migration figures surprised many officials because the state’s estimated population has shown slight growth for the last two years and migration losses had been easing since 2000.

“I think it’s alarming,” said Rep. Mary Ekstrom, D-Fargo, who twice failed in legislative attempts to launch a state office of immigration to lure more people to the state. “We’re doing worse than all our neighboring states, and we have been for a long time.”

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

You just have to admire John Hoeven for one thing: his ability to stay on message. Every political candidate in America ought to take his “Stay On Message” workshop. He’s the expert who can teach it. His message is that North Dakota is friendly to business. In Hoevenspeak, an incomplete sentence is one that does not contain the word business. I’m pretty sure that he has not issued a single sentence from his mouth in the last 5 ½ years that did not contain the word “business.” Even at home, I’d bet. “Kids, get that homework business done. If you’re going to get one of my good-paying jobs in one of those call centers after you get out of business school, you need to get business-like grades in 5th grade.” I expect his romantic conversations, since he was about old enough to consider romance, have included the phrase “monkey business.”

God, his life must be so boring, forcing himself to never stray away from the business of courting business. Or at least telling us he’s doing that, while he secretly escapes and plays his favorite games. He probably has some outlets that let him relax. I can just imagine the fun the Hoevens must have when the Dalrymples come over to visit. “Hey, everybody, let’s play our favorite game: Monopoly!”

“Oops, sorry, Jack, you’ve landed on St. Charles Place, and I have a hotel there that is just full of people with good-paying jobs, and you’re going to have to pay me a bunch of rent, because those darn Republicans in the Legislature just won’t put any money in school funding and so my property taxes have gone up and the rent has to go up just too keep up with all the bills.”

“Well, Governor, you’ve just landed on my railroad, but that’s okay, you can ride free, because the Attorney General says it’s okay for you to take free rides from the railroad.”

Okay, sorry to digress there. I had a point when I started this. Yesterday I was cruising down the highway headed west listening to Prairie Public Radio and here comes a story by Dave Thompson about the Governor appointing a new district judge in Bismarck. His name is not important, at least not in this rant. Now, I was driving, so I couldn’t write down the exact quote, but it was something like this:

“He’s done a lot of civil litigation. So he understands business. As we work to build the best business climate in America, that’s important.”

I swear. He said that. On the radio. Can you say that? I don’t think you can say that! At least not on the radio. Just think about that for a minute. He’s talking about appointing a new Judge. Not an Economic Development Director, which he appointed a few months ago. Not a Public Service Commissioner, or a Tax Commissioner, both of which he has appointed in the last couple of years. No, this is a Judge.

So what’s the deal here? Was he just reaching for a connection to his mantra—no pronouncement without a business connection? If so, that’s a real goofy reach, Governor. How can a judicial appointment affect business in North Dakota?

Or can it? Is this guy saying “Hey we’re going to send our economic development folks out and tell businesses around the country to move to North Dakota, because we’re appointing business-friendly judges.”? That’s kinda what it sounded like. I don’t like the sound of that much.

Hey, Governor, we want judges who will PUT METH DEALERS IN JAIL! We want judges who will make sure DEADBEAT PARENTS WILL PAY THEIR CHILD SUPPORT! We want judges who will ENFORCE THE WORKERS COMP LAWS! We want judges who will HELP OUR YOUNG PEOPLE WORK THROUGH DRUG ADDICTION PROBLEMS.

Now I don’t have any reason to believe that this new judge, whose name is not important here, doesn’t come to this job ready to do those things. I think he was just the innocent victim of either a goofy governor who just couldn’t let any public pronouncement go by without tying in a business connection (likely), or a scary governor who really believes--and was dropping a not-so-subtle hint to this new appointee--that he can appoint people to the bench who will issue favorable rulings to businesses if they have a little trouble complying with our laws (possible).

Personally, I think he’s goofy, not scary. At least I hope so. But you just never know.

See you on the Trail,

Jim

The Forum reiterates Time magazine's comments about Senator Conrad

Via In-Forum...

The Forum
4/19/06

Time magazine’s selection of Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., as one of the U.S. Senate’s top 10 comes as no surprise to most North Dakotans. They know he’s good at what he does. They’ve re-elected him by huge margins. They like the way he represents them.

The magazine called Conrad “the statistician” – recognition of his attention to detail on the most complex issues facing the nation, such as the budget. His use of charts is legendary, but it’s not a gimmick. The charts illustrate his cogent analyses.

Click here to read on...

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

I’ll admit, as I’m sure my counterpart over at Republican State Headquarters will, that sometimes right before the filing deadline for Legislative candidates, things get a little sloppy as Districts scramble to till the last couple of holes on the Primary Election ballot. In the great majority of cases, Legislative candidates come forward well before the filing deadline, seeking their party’s endorsement for the Legislature. In many districts there are contests for the endorsement, and candidates line up their delegates for the showdown at the District convention. That was the case in District 21 in Fargo this year, when three candidates emerged as contenders for the endorsement for two Legislative seats. There, one of our incumbent Legislators, Sally Sandvig, was bumped from the ticket this year by Jasper Schneider. Jasper simply had more support from the delegates to the convention. He might have even encouraged his friends and supporters to turn out at the convention and vote for him. That’s the way the convention process works, and it’s worked effectively for many, many years. It has helped our party elect not only Legislators, but state officials as well. In the 1984 race for the Democratic-NPL endorsement for Governor, for example, George Sinner was able to get more of his supporters to district conventions---and also to convince delegates who had come uncommitted to support him—and he was able to win the party’s endorsement at the state convention, and go on to be elected governor. No one faults this process. It’s politics by the rules. And it can produce some great results at the ballot box as well. Candidates who do a good job of organizing before a convention use that experience to run a more effective campaign. No doubt that early organizing experience, and Jasper’s effectiveness at convincing delegates he is the best choice this year, will benefit him greatly in this campaign, and we will see him in the Legislature next January.

On Tuesday, the Fargo Forum’s editorial criticized Democrats for rejecting Sandvig, accusing our party of being short-sighted. The fact of the matter is, the party structure had nothing to do with who won that endorsement, and I say, “Good for us.” Party bosses, if such things exist, should not dictate who the candidates are. The people of the district should do that, and in District 21, the people of the district who chose to participate in the District Convention did just that. Initially, a lot of us, while delighted with the convention’s choice, also felt badly for Sally, who has served our party for a number of years. But then she went and chose to jump parties and run as a Republican this year. That’s sour grapes. Really sour grapes. If she was intent on keeping her seat in the Legislature, she could have instead exercised her right to challenge the convention by running in the primary election. That would have allowed even more Democrats to decide who the party’s endorsed candidate for the District 21 House seat would be. Now, we will work with the District 21 Democrats this fall to run the best campaign the District has ever seen, and we will elect Jasper Schneider and Steve Zaiser to the Legislature. And that hard work will benefit all the statewide candidates on the ticket, because we will turnout more Democrat votes in the District than ever.

But back to the sloppiness in endorsing candidates I mentioned at the top of this column. Out in Montana, The Republicans, in a desperate attempt to fill a Legislative slot in a mostly Democrat Legislative District, endorsed the head of the American Nazi Party in Montana for the Legislature. Shawn Stuart said he "has nothing against any other race," but believes they should be separate.

Stuart, a Bozeman native and Marine Corps veteran, also said he thinks his views align with the Republican Party. The Montana unit of the National Socialist Movement, which calls itself “America’s Nazi Party,” has a website which says, on its home page: “Stand up for your own, join our fight today for a once again pure white nation! If you are White and want nothing more than to see your children and grand-children grow up in a pure White nation, Please JOIN OUR FIGHT: We are The White and Right Cause.”

Uffda. The Montana Republican Party is pretty embarrassed by all this, and is scrambling to put some distance between itself and this guy. We hope so. A lot of distance. This is a scary bunch. If you go to their website, the instant the site appears on your monitor you are greeted with the sound of a gunshot and the words “Fighting For Race And Nation.” The website lists units in 36 states, including Montana, Minnesota and South Dakota. But not North Dakota. Thank goodness. I hope it stays that way.

See you on the Trail,

Jim

Minot Daily News reiterates Time magazine's comments about Senator Conrad

Via the Minot Daily News...

Minot Daily News Editorial
4/18/06

We're not surprised Kent Conrad was included on Time's list of the 10 best senators in the United States. Residents of North Dakota have consistently given Conrad high approval ratings during his tenure in the Senate.

In a story on Conrad headlined "Kent Conrad: The Statistician," Time said Conrad has made himself "king of that most important part of the Senate's business ­ raising and spending the taxpayers' money."

Conrad, 58, has made a name for himself nationally as the ranking Democrat on the Senate's Budget Committee. If the Democrats need someone to talk taxes or crunch numbers, Conrad's the man. He's running for re-election this year.

Click here to read on...

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

Blessed rain in the Capital City this morning, easing the fears of rural fire departments who have been battling grass fires for the past two weeks. No rain on our Legislative ticket today, though, as yesterday’s filing deadline for the Primary Election passed. Despite a few holes, and a couple of last minute filing glitches which we will correct during the primary campaign, we have the strongest Legislative ticket I’ve seen in recent years.

On the House side, all of our incumbent Legislators are defending their seats, and a host of both veterans and newcomers join them. Former Representative Dan Gerhardt is running for an open seat in Williston after one Republican incumbent retired and another lost in a convention race. In West Fargo, former Representative Jackie Brodshaug returns to the fray.

Over in the Senate, three veteran legislators are retiring this year: Senator April Fairfield, Senator Dennis Bercier and Senator Mike Every. All have able replacements and I don’t expect any problems holding those three seats this year. But we’ve loaded up the Senate slate with strong challengers with Legislative histories. Former Senator Jim Yockim has come out of retirement and will seek his old seat in Williston. Former Representative Arden Anderson is running for the seat left vacant by the retirement of Sen. Russell Thane in Wahpeton, and out in Coal Country, District 33, former Representative John Mahoney is moving over to the Senate, tackling Sen. Randy Christmann this year.

Still, it’s the new faces on the ballot that cause us excitement this year. A couple of co-op managers bring organizational strength to the ticket. In Minot, longtime Verendrye Electric manager Bob Horne is tackling the Senator with perhaps the most lackluster record in the Capitol, Randy Schobinger, while out in Dickinson, retired Cenex manager Connie Kooren is challenging Reps. Frank Wald and Nancy Johnson. Teachers Lisa Wolf in Minot, Lee Myxter in Fargo and JoNell Bakke in Grand Forks pledge to work on education funding in their first term next year, and they’re joined by retired teachers Joan Heckaman, who’s seeking Mike Every’s seat in District 23, and Russell Pearson who’s running for an open seat in the House in District 15, Devils Lake.

We’ll pay special attention this year to a crop of young people making their entry into politics, many of them graduates of our Democratic Leadership Institute. The under-30 bunch includes Zac Ista in West Fargo, Tom Lamb, Chris Griffin and Erin Braaten in the Grand Forks area, Jasper Schneider in Fargo, Ben Vig in District 23, Dustin Lien in Jamestown, Ryan Gustafson in Bismarck, and Stuart Savelkoul and Chad Berger in Dickinson.

Overall, it’s quite a ticket. They’ll get a chance to meet each other and develop strategy at the candidate training workshop scheduled April 29-30 in Bismarck. We’ll put the entire ticket on the website later today.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. There aren’t enough open seats this year to allow us to win a majority in the Legislature, but we’ve got a great start, and the substantial gains we make this year will allow us to be the majority party in the Legislature by 2009. Let’s all get out and help make that happen!

See you on the Trail,

Jim

Senators Dorgan and Conrad bring hydrogen research to N.D.

This is a good thing for our state:

Grand Forks, North Dakota - U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) helped break ground here Monday for a new National Center for Hydrogen at the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC), saying the facility will help North Dakota lead the way in the creation of a hydrogen economy that will help eliminate America’s dependence on foreign sources of energy.

"When you look at the future of energy in this country, one of the most promising technologies on the horizon is hydrogen," Dorgan said. "I am proud that I was able to designate the EERC as the National Center for Hydrogen Technology, and to secure the cornerstone funding for this cutting-edge facility. The groundbreaking research that will be done right here in North Dakota will allow our grandchildren to drive hydrogen-powered cars, live in hydrogen-powered homes, and end our country’s addiction to foreign sources of energy."

"It is time to end our nation’s addiction to foreign sources of energy. The National Center for Hydrogen Technology will help put our nation on a path toward greater energy independence," Senator Conrad said. "The use of hydrogen fuel cells will enable our country to use domestic resources, such as wind and coal, to power our nation’s vehicles. On a local level, this facility will boost job growth in the Grand Forks region and lead to a great infusion of research dollars."

Dorgan, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Senate Energy Committee, inserted language in an appropriations bill directing the U.S. Department of Energy to designate the EERC as a National Center for Hydrogen Technology. Dorgan also has aggressively sought funding for hydrogen research at the EERC and secured $5.5 million for the National Center. In the federal energy bill approved last year by Congress, Dorgan included legislation he authored directing $3.75 billion to hydrogen research, some of it in North Dakota, and set a national goal to put 100,000 hydrogen-fueled vehicles on the road by 2010 and 2.5 million by 2020.

Senator Conrad, a longtime leader on energy issues, recently introduced landmark legislation to massively increase domestic energy production and bring relief to American consumers. Through a mix of tax credits, grants and new renewable fuel standards, Senator Conrad’s Breaking Our Long-term Dependence, or BOLD, Energy Act would increase production of renewable energy and alternative fuels, and fund research into new energy technology. The BOLD bill includes $2.5 billion in additional funding for hydrogen research and authorizes $17 million in funding to the EERC’s National Center for Hydrogen Technology over four years.

The National Center for Hydrogen Technology will significantly enhance the research, development, testing, and commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The state-of-the-art facility will include a 30-foot-high demonstration/testing area, a staging area for vehicle demonstration, a fuel cell testing area, a high-temperature materials lab, and other individual labs for a variety of hydrogen production technologies. This $3 million, 15,000 square-foot facility will boost the EERC’s staff with 50 to 100 new high-paying jobs.

Senator Conrad is simply the best

Time Magazine released an article last Friday calling our own Senator Kent Conrad one of the 10 best senators in the U.S. Senate. Click here to go to the article.

The high rating comes as no surprise. From saving our bases to fighting for our farmers, Senator Conrad has been very effective representing North Dakotans in the U.S. Senate over the years.

Congratulations Senator Conrad on the well-deserved high marks!

Loose lips.....

Via The National Journal...


Cheney Authorized Leak Of CIA Report, Libby Says
By Murray Waas, National Journal

Vice President Dick Cheney directed his then-chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on July 12, 2003 to leak to the media portions of a then-highly classified CIA report that Cheney hoped would undermine the credibility of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, a critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, according to Libby's grand jury testimony in the CIA leak case and sources who have read the classified report.

The March 2002 intelligence report was a debriefing of Wilson by the CIA's Directorate of Operations after Wilson returned from a CIA-sponsored mission to Niger to investigate claims, later proved to be unfounded, that Saddam Hussein had attempted to procure uranium from the African nation, according to government records.

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

With just four days to go until the filing deadline for Legislative candidates, a few of our districts are still scrambling to endorse Legislative candidates for this year’s election. One of those is the huge Legislative district in western North Dakota, District 39. This, we have learned is a district where geography favors incumbency.

When I use the word “huge” to describe this district, I’m not kidding. The district is composed of six counties: McKenzie, Billings, Golden Valley, Slope, Bowman and Adams. The district runs from the Missouri River at Williston south and east to the Adams-Sioux County line just north of Lemmon, S.D. If our McKenzie County Chairman Don Link wanted to drive down to see the District Secretary JeriLynn Bakken, he would have to travel about 210 miles by road—the same distance as from Bismarck to Fargo. And he’d never leave his Legislative District on that trip.

Six complete counties in one district is pretty amazing, when you consider there are nine Legislative Districts in Cass County alone. Twenty seven Legislators for Cass County, one third of a Legislator for each of the six counties in District 39.

Here’s another perspective. District 39 encompasses 8,263 square miles. It is larger than five states: Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Those five states each have hundreds of Legislators, District 39 has three. It’ll take Don Link about three hours to drive from one end of his district to the other. If he went to the east coast, he’d find that Rhode Island is only 22 miles across, Delaware just 30, Connecticut 66, and he could drive all the way from the west end of Massachusetts to the tip of Cape Cod and only cover about 110 miles. Of course, it would take him about the same three hours to cover that distance, on a good day, but with gas at nearly $3 per gallon, well, you get the point.

And that gets me back to the original point of this note. We have three entrenched Republican Legislators in District 39, and our local Democrats have talked to lots of people—ranchers, teachers, lawyers and business people—and almost all of them tell us it’s just nearly impossible to get well known in that district in the course of a single campaign. Hence some reluctance to run for the Legislature against incumbents who are pretty well known by now after having served a long time in the Legislature.

Our district chair out there, Mary Rowley from Hettinger, is an intrepid soul, though. She’ll have candidates, probably three people who have never met each other, who live hundreds of miles apart, and will have to figure out a way to get to know each other from a distance when they start their campaign.

We’ve elected Democrats out there before, and good ones. John Maher, Doug Nordby and Rick Maixner came from this district. So did Jim Ecker and LaVern Schoeder back in the 60’s and of course, it is still the home district of former State Representative Art Link.

And we’ll elect Democrats there again, perhaps this time. When we get them endorsed, we’ll let you know who they are, and their addresses. Maybe you can send them a little gas money.

See you on the Trail,

Jim

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

Before the door-knocking starts, before the fundraising letters go out, before the brochures are printed, Democratic-NPL Legislative candidates will gather in Bismarck on April 29-30 for two days of intensive training in preparation for their upcoming campaigns. The training is part of the Democratic National Committee’s effort to take back legislative seats across the country this year. Our National Chairman, Gov. Howard Dean, launched a 50-State Initiative last year to help Democrats across the country begin to reclaim offices at every level of Government. Brad Martin, our Northwest Region Representative from the DNC, will lead the training effort, along with representatives of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. For two days, both veteran Legislators running for re-election and newcomers to political campaigns will attend a series of workshops at the Harold Schafer Leadership Center at the University of Mary in Bismarck. Topics to be covered in the workshops include:

• The Political Landscape Review
• Winning Door To Door Strategies
• An Issues Overview
• Direct Mail and Person to Person Fundraising
• Developing Your Message and Delivering Your Message Effectively
• Using the Voter File
• Understanding the Media

The weekend begins with a social at the Kennedy Center Friday night, April 28. Workshops start at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 29, run all day Saturday and into the evening, and again on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Participants will leave with a campaign manual prepared by former Rep. Lonnie Winrich, our “campaign mechanic,” and a complete issues binder put together by Senator April Fairfield, our party’s “issues guru.” The sessions are open to all Legislative candidates and their campaign managers. District Chairs, Young Democrats, Party Officers and others interested in participating can also attend, for a nominal fee (enough to cover the cost of a few meals). If you’ve never attended a Brad Martin workshop, you’re in for a treat. Brad’s a skilled Montana political veteran of many campaigns, and he was with us last fall for a preliminary training session for District Officers.

If you’re interested in participating, we need to hear from you by Friday, so we can let the folks at the University of Mary how much food to prepare. Just call Pat at Democratic- NPL Headquarters, 255-0460, and let her know you are coming.

Jack, Jack, Jack

Even though I’ve spent many years either as part of the news media or working with them, I still don’t understand how things work all the time. Take the Fargo Forum, for example. Please, take the Fargo Forum (just kidding—too good of an old line to pass up). A month or so ago, I sat down with a young Forum reporter who wanted to interview me about young people getting involved in the political process. She was excited about how many young people seem to be showing up as candidates these days, and the story she published this past Monday reflected her enthusiasm for the story she was working on. Mentioning our endorsed Legislative candidate Zac Ista over in West Fargo, the reporter wrote: “Ista is among a spate of North Dakota and Minnesota college students and recent grads who’ve taken a crack at local and state elected offices, undercutting the cliché of the apathetic, jaded twenty-something. Their age might cause them to jut out among graying fellow politicians, but they harness it as their strongest selling point.”

Those were the reporter’s words, not Ista’s, or any of the other young candidates she interviewed. Then, the very next day, on Tuesday, The Forum’s old fuddy-duddy editorial page editor Jack Zaleski just took the wind right out of that young reporter’s sails, in an editorial about how it takes more than just being young to run for office. “Youth is not necessarily a qualification for public office,” Jack wrote. Well, no one said it was. It was the Forum that initiated the story and generated the discussion, not the young candidates who were interviewed. They simply responded to the reporter’s questions. Looking for an example to prove his point, and, strangely, refute the Monday story, apparently, Jack went on to diss our Secretary of State Candidate, Kristin Hedger because she happens to be young, and truly excited and enthusiastic about her race this year.

“If (Hedger’s) primary qualifications for office are that she’s young and exciting, well that won’t cut it,” Jack wrote Tuesday. Gee, Jack, I don’t think Kristin’s ever said that. And I thought your reporter on Monday did a pretty good job of explaining why young people are interested in the political process this year. They’re not running because they’re young. They’re running because they CAN. They’re running because they WANT TO. They’re running because they might WIN, and if they do that, they can MAKE A DIFFERENCE. These young people can bring a fresh, young perspective to a sometimes stodgy old government system, one that right now, for example, allows things like double digit college tuition increases to continue to plague these young people’s generation. I say, good for them. Good for you, Kristin Hedger. And by the way, Kristin, don’t let Jack get you down. It was Monday. He needed an editorial. He didn’t see much going on, and he just hammered out a seat of the pants piece quickly after reading the morning paper. I know Jack. You don’t. But you’ll like him when you meet him. He isn’t nearly as crusty as he’d like you to believe. Stop and see him when you’re on the Trail.

Jim

Rick Gion's News from Headquarters

Fellow Democrats,

News of the State Board of Higher Education approving tuition increases comes as no surprise. Just like property taxes, we have been seeing huge increases in costs the last five years.

These “tax increases” (consider frequent tuition hikes a tax on students) have all come while North Dakotans keep voting for Republicans to represent them in the state Legislature. I think they’re voting against their best interests.

I remember writing an article in 2003 for the High Plains Reader about double digit tuition increases. In fact, to my knowledge, they were at record levels. Everyone I talked to was disgusted about them, especially students. I kept telling these young folks to change what the Republicans are doing, they need to vote. I’m hoping they did.

Last Friday, Democratic-NPL Attorney General candidate Bill Brudvik blasted the tuition increase approval.

He said:

We have a huge budget surplus as well as dollars from student loan payments. We ought to figure out a way to use some of that surplus, instead of putting the burden on the backs of students when there are resources to mitigate rising costs for North Dakota’s colleges.

Brudvik also said these sharp increases are happening with too much frequency.

Year after year, tuition seems to be climbing at exorbitant rates. This increase is almost in the double digits again. A cap just makes good sense.

A cap does make sense. He also discussed incentives for recent graduates to stay in North Dakota. Good for you Bill! Students are getting bitter about these hikes, and we don’t need more of them leaving because of it. The state has extra money in the bank, and it’s partly from students. In fact, one-third of the Bank of North Dakota’s profits are from student loan payments. Let’s put it to good use and invest in our youth.

Also, all you young folks out there should become more engaged in this debate. If you have some comments, please email me at rick@demnpl.com.

Rick Gion, Communications Director

More bad numbers for Bush

Via the Washington Post...

Bush's Job Approval Rating Continues to Swoon
By Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writer

Political reversals at home and continued bad news from Iraq have dragged President Bush's standing with the public to a new low and boosted Democratic chances of wresting control of Congress from Republicans in the November elections, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The new survey found that 38 percent of the public approved of the job Bush is doing as president, down 3 percentage points in the past month and his worst showing in Post-ABC polling on this key measure since he became president. Sixty percent disapproved of his performance.

Bush's overall job approval has remained below 50 percent for nearly a year while the proportion of the public critical of the president consistently has topped 50 percent. And perhaps more ominously for the president, 47 percent say they "strongly" disapproved of Bush's handling of the presidency -- more than double the percentage who strongly approved (20 percent) and the second straight month that the proportion of Americans intensely critical of the president was larger than his overall job approval rating.

Brudvik Says High Tuition Hikes Need to End

(Mayville)-Bill Brudvik, Democratic-NPL candidate for Attorney General, said today that it’s time for huge college tuition increases to end, and called for an immediate 5 percent cap on tuition increases.

The North Dakota Attorney General sits on the state Industrial Commission which oversees the Bank of North Dakota. Brudvik said with the Bank collecting one-third of its profits from student loans, it just doesn’t make sense that there isn’t a cap on rising tuition.

“We have a huge budget surplus as well as dollars from student loan payments,” Brudvik said. “We ought to figure out a way to use some of that surplus, instead of putting the burden on the backs of students when there are resources to mitigate rising costs for North Dakota’s colleges.”

Brudvik also said these sharp increases are happening with too much frequency.

“Year after year, tuition seems to be climbing at exorbitant rates,” he said. “This increase is almost in the double digits again. A cap just makes good sense.”

The state’s budget surplus is sitting around $230 million. It was reported in today’s story from the Associated Press that some legislators expect the surplus to be around $300 million by the time the next Legislative session begins.

Increases in tuition will be between 8 and 9.9 percent this fall at all North Dakota campuses. Tuition will rise 9.5 percent at North Dakota State University, 9 percent at the University of North Dakota. In Mayville, Brudvik’s hometown, tuition will go up 9.5 percent.

Brudvik said earlier he would also support an initiative to provide incentives through student loan forgiveness to encourage young adults to remain in North Dakota.

Rick Gion's News from Headquarters

The news of Rep. Tom DeLay’s resignation brought back some memories. Thanks to an invitation by a Republican candidate and the state Republican Party in 2004, it wasn’t too long ago that “the hammer” was here in North Dakota. And I had the pleasure of being at one of his events. However, it wasn’t the first time the North Dakota Republican Party brought in a political figure who doesn’t share our values.

I remember attending a news conference at the Avalon in Fargo in 2004 where DeLay was singing Republican U.S. House candidate Duane Sand praises. Amidst my sarcasm toward the event, I remember thinking that DeLay had no business being in North Dakota. According to yesterday’s editorial in the Forum, my thoughts proved correct.

The Forum editorial board wrote:

Just a couple of years ago the majority leader was a guest at a Fargo fundraiser. Republicans fawned and swooned and paid a few bucks to get their picture taken with him. Despite his anti-North Dakota voting record (farm programs, disaster relief) and sanctions by the House Ethics Committee, they embraced him as one of their own, which he is not.

So not only did DeLay endorse a North Dakota Republican candidate, but the state party collected checks on account of his appearance.

Didn’t the same thing happen last fall when Karl Rove, deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, made several appearances at GOP fundraisers across Fargo? He also headed a rah-rah news conference at the Multiband Tower.

As you know, Rove has been under public scrutiny for everything from disclosing the name of a CIA agent to foul campaign tactics.

If Richard Nixon was still alive, I bet the North Dakota Republican Party would invite him here for the same type of soiree. Wait, there’s still Duke Cunningham.

You may have also read in our daily news briefs about Senator Sam Brownback’s (R-Kan.) keynote address at the Republican State Convention in Minot. In his speech, he approved of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure). What? Come on? Are you serious? We just went through a battle to save our air bases, which, I might add, Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy helped save.

OK, no more diatribe, but you see where this is going. The North Dakota Republican Party has a long track record of bringing in folks that negate our values. Their political compass is way out of whack. Now that “the hammer” got nailed, I wonder who their next guest of honor will be.

Rick Gion, Communications Director

Forum editorial about Republican arrogance

Via In-Forum...

Forum editorial: Arrogance of power got DeLay
Published Thursday, April 06, 2006

Tom DeLay, the tainted former majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, is trying to put his fall from power on the high road. Problem is, he couldn’t find the high road if he fell face-down onto it. The Texas Republican has been a low-road politician since 1994, when as Speaker Newt Gingrich’s whip, he became known as “the hammer” for his thuggish leadership style. If Gingrich was the intellectual light behind the Republican ascendency in the 1990s, DeLay was the guy who whipped the troops into line with intimidation and threats.

DeLay said Tuesday he would not seek re-election from his once-solid Texas district. He said he’s giving up the fight because there’s a good chance his Democratic opponent would win if he stayed in the race. He said the last thing he wants is for his seat in the House to go to a Democrat.

Sounds noble. But the reality is that DeLay has been indicted for violations of his state’s campaign laws. Despite his denials, he is hip-deep in the unfolding Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Two of his top aides (possibly three by the end of the week) have admitted to conducting illegal activities out of DeLay’s congressional office and under the congressman’s nose. For DeLay to piously pretend he didn’t know what his closest aides were up to – with a lobbyist DeLay described as his best friend – is not credible.

Update from Chairman David Strauss

Fellow Democrats,

As the first of 76 million baby boomers (including about 115,000 in North Dakota) get ready to retire, the foundations of the U.S. retirement system are crumbling.

For decades, millions of Americans have relied on the traditional “three-legged stool” of retirement security - - Social Security, employer-sponsored pension plans, and, to a lesser extent, personal savings -- for income security in their retirement years.
Let’s take them one by one.

• Social Security: Although they’ve stopped talking about it, the Bush Administration still intends to replace Social Security with a scheme of privatized accounts that will eliminate the guaranteed benefit for millions of elderly Americans. Just last month, with no fanfare, the Administration stuck a big privatization plan in the budget it sent to Congress.

• Private Pensions: Traditional employer-provided pension plans – that provide a predictable secure benefit for life – are rapidly disappearing. Fewer than 50% of American families have any kind of a retirement account. For most Americans with an employer-provided plan, the 401 (k) plan has become the standard retirement plan. And, only 17% of 401 (k) plans offer a life time income option to employees.

• Personal Savings: The personal savings rate is at an all time low – a negative 0.5% for 2005. This is the first time since the Depression the savings rate has been negative for an entire year.

What’s the Administration’s response to this crisis? It has been to shift the risk and responsibility for retirement from the government and employers to workers and their families. The hardest hit under this scenario are the baby boomers and older workers who don’t have enough investment years left to build a sizable portfolio.

The 2006 election will provide North Dakotans nearing retirement (about 40 percent of the electorate) with a unique opportunity to send a message that bold leadership is needed to address this crisis.

In 2006, Senator Kent Conrad and Congressman Earl Pomeroy will be on the ballot. Both are stalwart champions of Social Security and the employer- provided pension system.

Senator Conrad’s bill to stop the Administration from raiding the current Social Security surplus has won bipartisan support and was co-sponsored by Republican Senator George Voinovich of Ohio.

Senator Conrad has also sponsored the Retirement Savings and Security Act of 2005 that would increase retirement savings and security and make retirement plan rules simpler and more equitable.

Congressman Pomeroy has developed the AmeriSave Plan which would expand and improve existing retirement accounts for nearly 100 million Americans. Pomeroy also introduced the Lifetime P.A.Y. Act which would address the risk of outliving one’s savings by encouraging workers to annuitize part of their retirement savings.

A big turnout of North Dakota baby boomers voting overwhelmingly for Conrad and Pomeroy is the best way to send a message to the Administration that it needs to act before it’s too late. Because if these trends continue unabated, the three-legged stool of retirement security as we know it – Social Security, employer-provided pensions, and personal savings – will cease to exist.

David Strauss, Democratic-NPL Chairman

Bush tax cuts benefit the wealthiest Americans

Via CNNMoney Online...

Study: Bush tax cuts making rich richer
CNNMoney
4/5/06

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - President Bush's tax cuts for investment income have significantly lowered the tax burden on the richest Americans, reducing taxes on incomes of more than $10 million by an average of about $500,000, according to a report Wednesday.

An analysis of Internal Revenue Service data by The New York Times found that the benefit of the lower taxes on investments was more concentrated on the very wealthiest Americans than the benefits of President Bush's two previous tax cuts.

The Times analyzed IRS figures for 2003, the latest year available and the first that reflected the tax cuts for income from dividends and from the sale of stock and other assets, known as capital gains.

According to the study, taxpayers with incomes greater than $10 million reduced their investment tax bill by an average of about $500,000 in 2003, and their total tax savings, which included the two Bush tax cuts on compensation, nearly doubled, to slightly more than $1 million.

These taxpayers, whose average income was $26 million, paid about the same share of their income in income taxes as those making $200,000 to $500,000 because of the lowered rates on investment income.

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

Bill Brudvig and Tracy Potter, two pretty bright guys, were talking about college tuition increases in North Dakota this week, and that caught my attention. Bill, our candidate for Attorney General, will sit on the State Industrial Commission after he is elected, and he noted how unfair it is that the Bank of North Dakota, which is under the purview of the Industrial Commission, is helping to balance the state’s budget on the backs of college students. The Legislature under-funds the colleges, so the colleges raise tuition, and students borrow money from the Bank of North Dakota to pay tuition, and the payback on those loans goes into the Bank of North Dakota, providing the bank’s profits, which are then used to help balance the budget—but the budget continues to short-shrift colleges, leading to more tuition increases . . . it’s a vicious circle and students lose.

The irony was not lost on Tracy, our Senate candidate in District 35, who sent out a release yesterday decrying the double-digit tuition increases at our colleges at a time when the state has a huge bank account. We wouldn’t think of raising taxes when there’s $270 million in the bank, Potter argues, correctly. But that’s just what a tuition increase is— a tax on our students. Why should they pay an extra ten per cent tuition next year when there is this huge reserve in the bank?

Bill said in his announcement statement last week that we ought to consider some kind of incentive program to keep young people here after college, giving them a break on their college loan repayment if they stay. We’ve forced them, as a state (read Republican Legislative super-majorities), to rack up a big loan bill—if they stay, let’s forgive some of it. Tracy says fund the schools adequately in the first place, and keep tuition down. They’re both right. And they both ought to be elected so they can help get that done.

Tribute to Governors

If you were at the State Convention, you saw the video tribute to former Governors Guy, Link and Sinner. It was produced by young Ben Hanson, an undergrad in the Fargo-Moorhead area, as his contribution to our convention. He and Scott Stofferahn interviewed the former governors and their spouses, asking them things like what inspired or motivated them to enter into a life of public service, party values, their most satisfying achievements, and the role of their spouses in their administrations. Ben edited it into a 15 minute product. I talked to Ben at the end of the convention, and he’s agreed to make it available to us for resale, splitting the proceeds with the Party. We’ll let you know when it’s ready for sale and what nominal fee you can pay for it to help pay Ben’s tuition and elect Democrats to office this year.

Another Administration Scandal

So how about this Brian J. Doyle, the fourth-ranking official in the Homeland Security Department's public affairs office (meaning political appointee), who is expected to be placed on administrative leave today for soliciting sex from what he believed was a 14- year-old girl on the Internet. Surprise, Brian, it was really a cop, and you’re busted. Brian, Brian, Brian. You’re going to be famous now. You’re going to go to jail. But don’t worry, you‘ll be in good company. There are a lot of your fellow Republicans there already.

Candidates?

The filing deadline for Legislative candidates is just under two weeks away, and we have openings yet. There are a scattering of openings in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck, Williston and a couple of rural areas out west. If you’ve been thinking about it and just haven’t acted on that urge, give me a call at 255- 0460 and let’s talk. This is going to be a great Democrat year. And anything can happen during a campaign. It just can’t happen to YOU if you’re not on the ballot.

See you on the Trail,

Jim

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

State Conventions like the one we just attended don’t just happen. The 800 or so folks seated on the convention floor don’t see the work going on behind the scenes. They don’t see the hundreds of hours of planning that go into putting everything into its place and making everything work on time. It was literally an army of volunteers who made that convention work as well as it did. I don’t even know all their names. But I know their leaders, and at the risk of leaving some out, I want to thank them publicly. I’ll miss a couple, but my eyes and ears in Fargo read these messages, and they will e-mail me today and let me know who I missed, and I will include them tomorrow.

The general of this operation is an incredibly organized woman named Rebecca Knutson. She literally committed her life to this convention the last two months, and worked full time at least the last three weeks (full time in the Democratic-NPL Party means something around 80 hours a week) to make this happen. She and I averaged about 50 e-mails and 10 phone calls a day. She’s an incredible woman. My hero.

The rest of the Fargo Volunteer Committee, that met every week for two months, and worked at leas