Other than denoting a stark lack of individual responsibility, could the statement and accompanying spin from Collett's political allies actually have an effect on this year's election?
Maybe. Or maybe not. Clear as mud, right?
On one hand, Collett isn't running to win. She's running against Betty McCollum, who sits in one of the 50 or so safest Democratic congressional seats in the nation. In short, ain't no way short of a brutal scandal, an inopportune death, or something equally traumatizing, that even a good candidate without a DUI on her record is going to win this race with an (R) after her name. What Collett can do, however, is give GOP voters in the 4th district a reason to show up to the polls and support other candidates elsewhere on the ballot, where the GOP might have a fighting chance at picking off some seats. It's about base turnout for both the legislative candidates and for the statewide candidates like Tom Emmer and Pat Anderson.
So in that sense, this could damage Collett and her party's chances overall -- if this weakens her ability to turn out GOP votes, even in a heavily Democratic district, it's good for the DFL and bad for the GOP's ticket.
On the other hand, she's running in the 4th Congressional district -- there simply aren't that many swing voters in the district to begin with. It's not the 1st or 3rd, where there are plenty of independent-minded voters who decide each election which way they're going to vote and may go back and forth. The DFL index is high, its voter files are strong, and the GOP's numbers are not that great. In short, it's possible that whatever damage this does won't have much effect -- the 35% who were going to vote for Collett and the rest of the GOP ticket on Tuesday are still going to vote for them today.
There might simply be little damage to do.
As Big E noted, however, this does provide the DFL with a custom-built cudgel to use against the GOP's spin-minded leadership when they come knocking with charges of irresponsibility in relation to DUI charges (see Pfeilsticker, Linda and Rukavina, Tom). It's not that DUI's aren't irresponsible -- quite the contrary, they are incredibly irresponsible and I point a skeptical eye toward them as well.
It's the hypocrisy that's really at issue here -- to slam candidates of the other party for the same thing from which you're now defending one of your own -- and it will almost certainly come back to bite state GOP chair Tony Sutton and his crew.
Rep. John Kline (R-MN) isn't well known for much of anything. That's because up until this year, he's been a do-nothing back-bencher. Simply because he was the highest ranking Republican without scandals hanging over him, he was promoted to ranking minority on the House's Health, Education and Labor Committee. I guess this makes him a do-nothing, ranking committee memeber?
His do-nothing-ness has come to this -- Rep. Betty McCollum is doing his job for him. A little back story first.
Kline rubberstamped every Bush budget and supplementary spending request. Now that Obama is in the White House, Kline wants to reinvent himself as a deficit hawk, hoping everyone will forget all those prior votes.
One way Kline insists we can balance the budget and rid all evil from Washington DC is by eliminating what he calls "pork." Pork = earmarks. Earmarks = 0.05% of the federal budget.
Earmarks are the primary way that Congresscritters can get dollars into their districts to do things like ... hmmm ... lemme think ... a minute ... help rebuild the Hastings bridge before it falls into the Mississippi.
But Kline has sworn off pork as proof of how serious of a deficit hawk he is.
All of Minnesota's members of Congress have released their earmark requests - except for Reps. Michele Bachmann, John Kline and Erik Paulsen, who have joined the Republican ban on such funding measures. But in one case, district needs are being met through a neighboring representative's efforts: DFL Rep. Betty McCollum has made several earmark requests on behalf of projects inside Kline's district.
Dakota County is requesting $500,000 for a program called the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. The program helps low-risk juvenile offenders by diverting them from lockup by offering home monitoring, mental health services and "restorative justice programs."
It was requested by Dakota County administration in Hastings, a city within Kline's district. In fact, the majority of Dakota County is within the 2nd Congressional District, with the exception of a sliver of the county near the Mississippi River, which is in McCollum's district.
McCollum also requested a $650,000 earmark for the city of Eagan, which is also in Kline's district, to purchase energy-efficient fire trucks for use in Eagan and Inver Grove Heights.
McCollum requested the earmarks because they will benefit residents in her district, even if the money is going to Kline's, said spokesperson Maria Reppas.
Representative Keith Ellison said that it took several bills to push through civil rights and it will take several bills to push through real single payer health care that covers everyone. So I am taking a deep breath and trusting in historical precedent. So I am believing in the idea that better is better. On Monday, I just was added to healthcare that I don't trust, after all I have many pre-existing conditions like I am female and I have lived before! Just those two pre-existing conditions are enough to deny all coverage. Companies should sell a fight-the-health-care-insurance service, so we don't have to do that when we are sick.
So the most important thing is what happens locally. So my trusted Congresswoman Betty McCollum gives a summary after the fold.
Congresswoman Betty McCollum is helping make this week a pretty big one for former State Sen. Steve Kelley's gubernatorial bid.
McCollum, who co-chaired Kelley's 2006 bid, is again supporting him in 2010, saying "Steve is the right candidate at the right time to take back the governor's office for the DFL. He combines solid policy credentials, sound decision-making, and a unique, proven ability to win independent and moderate voters."
She also represents a superdelegate endorsement, which will be updated on the Superdelegate tracker presently.
As we've noted more than once, Kelley faces a very different field in 2010 than he did in 2006, but claims that much of the support he won last time remains intact and ready to go in the caucus/convention tango set to happen early next year.
At the annual Bruce Vento Dinner, last night, Congresswoman Betty McCollum rocked the room with her speech on healthcare, with statements like:
Republicans in Congress are the party of profits, not working people. And when I say
profits, I don't mean Old Testament "prophets" -I am talking about corporate profits. They are fighting for the CEOs and the profiteers, notregular folks who can't afford to fill theirprescription or even go to see a doctor.
You know there is a lot of talk about how Democrats need to reach out to Republicans and work for a "bipartisan" health care bill. I am sick and tired of talk of a bipartisan health care bill - that's just a plan for less health care for people in need and more profits for corporations driven by greed. Since I've been in Congress there have been a number of historic bipartisan bills -historically bad!
Woohoo, my representative is getting tough! Full speech below the fold!
Congresswoman Betty McCollum's office provided me the text of Betty McCollum's opening statement at her health care forum. She speaks for me! She represents me and the fourth district very well! And she supports the public option! This excellent picture of Betty was taken by Craig Stellmacher.
There is a real possibility that this entire debate could result in nothing. Why?
Because opponents of reform are fighting to maintain the status quo. Fighting for the status quo is not about protecting people's health, it is about protecting billions in corporate profits. My Republican colleagues in Congress have made "killing" health care reform the center of their political agenda. Their reform proposal focuses on doing nothing - nothing to control costs, nothing to expand access, nothing to improve quality.
The same people who spent $1 trillion in Iraq, after misleading our nation into that war, now say it is too expensive to invest in the health of Americans here at home.
The same people who wanted to privatize Social Security are now labeling government sponsored care - Medicare and Veterans health care - "socialized medicine."
The same people who attack President Obama's goals for health reform are standing shoulder to shoulder with the insurance industry that dumps sick policyholders and collect billions in profits...
My principals for moving forward with health reform in Congress include the following:
Every child in America deserves to have access to health care when they need it.
If you love your doctor and like your current insurance - nothing needs to change for you. You keep what you have.
There must be a patient centered approach to health care in which quality care improves
outcomes with a greater focus on prevention and healthy behaviors.
I support a public insurance option that will increase competition in the marketplace, keeps premium costs down, and provides affordable insurance for all Americans.
We need to prohibit discrimination by insurance companies based on pre-existing conditions andend the use of annual or lifetime caps on payment to deny coverage. It is time policyholders get the coverage they paid for.
We need to strengthen Medicare by eliminating the waste, fraud and abuse that siphons valuable
health care dollars away from our seniors and into the pockets of crooks.
I support eliminating the Medicare part D "donut hole" to make prescription drugs affordable for all seniors and mandating Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for best price for taxpayers.
Regarding cost, we need to pay for reforms with efficiencies, expanded preventive care that saves money, and cutting the excessive profits out of the system, not more deficit spending.
Minnesota has been treated unfairly under Medicare with our doctors and physicians being paid less than half of what providers in Florida receive. The entire Minnesota congressional delegation support fixing the Medicare geographic payment inequities that penalizes our state and I am going to keep fighting to make that happen.
Finally, I support health professionals and clergy working together to provide patients and families information, counseling, and options that enhance human dignity and respect one's faith
at the end of a loved one's life.
My Representative Betty McCollum graciously provided a health forum, so more people could speak to her. She did this even when she had already done a forum on July 1st. I observed her staff handle a crowd of about twenty people, who even came equipped with a cowbell, just as graciously a couple of weeks ago.
It was very clear that Betty was listening to each person and taking notes. She very affirmatively pushed back on the description of "ramming" legislation. People were allowed to speak through randomly chosen numbers, with 2 minute time limits.
Consequently, I heard a more reasonable "Republican" plan - regulate insurance companies to allow at least 10 year plans with only individual plans, no employer plans. Now I know that would not work because insurance companies would cherry pick and lose payments to kick people off of plans. However, the plan did show consideration of the problem not just nay saying.
The numbers attending were large, for there was also a crowd outside listening to speakers. The surround picture does make the large space look smaller than it actually was.
My Representative Betty McCollum graciously provided a health forum, so more people could speak to her. She did this even when she had already done a forum on July 1st. I observed her staff handle a crowd of about twenty people, who even came equipped with a cowbell, just as graciously a couple of weeks ago.
It was very clear that Betty was listening to each person and taking notes. She very affirmatively pushed back on the description of "ramming" legislation. People were allowed to speak through randomly chosen numbers, with 2 minute time limits.
Consequently, I heard a more reasonable "Republican" plan - regulate insurance companies to allow at least 10 year plans with only individual plans, no employer plans. Now I know that would not work because insurance companies would cherry pick and lose payments to kick people off of plans. However, the plan did show consideration of the problem not just nay saying.
The numbers attending were large, for there was also a crowd outside listening to speakers. The surround picture does make the large space look smaller than it actually was.
My Representative Betty McCollum supports the public option (now the American option)! Representative Betty McCollum is using her leverage to ensure that Minnesota does not get "the Medicare effect", documented in the New Yorker article.
Here is the agreement that Rep. Betty McCollum achieved! Betty rocks!
U.S. House Agreement on Medicare Geographic Variations
July 24, 2009: Agreement between House Leadership and members from the Quality Care Coalition.
America's Affordable Health Choices of 2009 (H.R. 3200)
*This document describes the major agreed upon changes to be included in the House version of HR 3200. Technical aspects of the language are currently being refined and finalized.
THE AGREEMENT
• This agreement will move the nation to a system that will reward high quality, cost-effective care, rather than the current system that has focused on the volume of care. It will fix the existing Medicare geographic payment inequity that will help patients and cover both physicians and hospital payments. This agreement calls for a study of geographic variations and a value system which will be used as recommendations to be implemented for a system based on value that will be implemented by the Secretary of Health and Human Services into the Medicare system. This will help ensure better future for our patients, families, and seniors.
My Representative Betty McCollum supports the public option (now the American option)! Betty McCollum was fighting for universal health care and taking boldly progressive stands when all others were hiding more 8 years ago. She stood tall and strong when she stood alone. On the public option vote, she will be there for us like she has always been there for us. Just read or listen to what Representative Betty Mc Collum had to say at the DFL Health Care Reform Rally on Saturday:
"Access to health care ought to be a right for all citizens!"
"Healthcare has become unfortunately a luxury because we have a system that being driven by profits not driven by what is medically necessary for people!"
"I will work hard to create a public option so that there is real competition in the marketplace!"
"If you love you doctor and right now I love my doctor [holding up an injured wrist] If you like your insurance plan. You may keep what you have if you are satisfied with it."
"There are opponents of health care reform. There are opponents who say that the richest most powerful country on earth cannot afford to provide healthcare foe all of its citizens. There are opponents who want to put profits before the right of people to access healthcare."
"Now insurance had a skyrocketing quortor posted, They saw their profits go up. They want to protect those profits. I want to protect your right to access healthcare."
"I want to put an end to insurance companies rationing your healthcare."
Rep.Keith Ellison said this of Rep. Betty McCollum:
"I want you to know that I had the privilege of being behind closed doors when the Democratic caucus discussed health care reform. I only wish you could be there to watch Betty McCollum fight for your right to health care. Betty has been fighting behind the doors. Betty has been fighting in front of the doors. Betty has been fighting wherever she can find a audience to hear her!"
Looking for a way to speak up in favor of a viable public option and real reform in our health insurance industry?
Want to help make sure the deathers and screamers know how badly outnumbered they are among the rational, thinking American public?
Consider showing up to this rally on Saturday:
Congresswoman BETTY McCOLLUM Congressman KEITH ELLISON
St. Paul Mayor CHRIS COLEMAN
Minneapolis Mayor RT RYBAK
As Minnesotans, we know we need health insurance reform. We are sick of a few loud people dominating this debate. Please join us for a rally in support of reform.
The rally will be followed by a canvass, where we will hit the streets and talk to our friends and neighbors about the need for reform this year!
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22nd
10:00am
DFL State Headquarters
255 E Plato Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55107
We'll try to have some MPP coverage on-scene -- see you there!
Insurers, drug makers, doctors' associations and hospitals are spending more than $1 million each day on lobbying. Most of these groups oppose the idea of government-provided health care.
There is no doubt that the health sector is trying to buy influence:
Federal lawmakers collected about half a million dollars more from the health sector between April and June of this year than they did in the first quarter of the year -- a total of $15.3 million for 2009. This slight boost is likely the result of the increased intensity of the health care reform debate.
So how much influence is that money buying and specifically how much is our Minnesota senators and representatives being affected?
One way to look at financial influence is by selecting out the health care industry for both individual and PAC contributions. From being at health care forums, I can tell you that Al Franken, Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum are supported by many health care professionals who want the public option in health care. Note the John Kline gets most of his funding in health care from health care insurance and pharma, the "private wealth creation" focused industries. James Oberstar can not be said to be financially influenced by health care industries in any way!
Please help the public option health care option by calling the highlighted light gold contacts! A minute phone call helps. All detail contact below the fold!
Senator Al Franken, DFL Representative Keith Ellison and DFL Representative Betty McCollum are truly heroes in supporting a robust public option for health care. Please call them and thank them. They need cheering on!
Senator Amy Klobuchar is fence sitting as usual, she will have a tele-townhall on Sunday. Of all people, she is most susceptible to numbers, so contact her often. Representative Tim Walz did wonders with the health care issue, he seems favorable to the public option, however he is reserving support until the final bill. Representative Collin Peterson is running town hall meetings. Representative James Oberstar wants the public option with Minnesota medicare price fixes and no abortion funding, so he almost could be in the "supports public option" column.
The Republicans are totally supportive of maintaining the profit and the total control by health care insurance companies. Republican Representative Michelle Bachmann calls this support of "Private wealth creation". And Michelle Bachmann will give more tax credits for health care insurance payments, that of course does not help if you cannot get nor afford private health care insurance. Republican Representative Eric Paulson is for greater health savings accounts, which only supports more "private wealth creation" for health insurance companies. Republican John Kline is all about demonizing the government, while ignoring the fact that health care insurance companies already do all the bad things that he is accusing government of doing. So Republicans are all about the rich get to have good health care and the rest of us can just go bankrupt or just quietly die or both. Republicans will support the "private wealth creation" for health insurance companies, even when it is death by spreadsheet for the rest of us.
Today, about 40 protesters showed up to protest at Representative's Betty McCollum's office. The group said there were no leaders, even though two Republican candidates were there. For some reason, they wanted to pretend that this was not organized, saying "We are just a bunch of individuals." Even though this event is organized through the tea party website:
8/14/09 Health Care Freedom Rally
Step 1. Find your representatives in Congress at http://www.congress.org Step 2. Decide which office you will visit
Step 3. Write a letter or statement and bring it with you
11am - 12pm
Arrive at 11am and stay until noon if you can.
Bring a camera!....
Fourth District Betty McCollum (DFL)
165 Western Ave. N., Suite 17
St. Paul, MN 55102
651-224-9191
Fax: 651-224-3056
Although Betty McCollum is out of town, the staff had enough warning to prepare tea and handouts. Everyone had a copy of Betty McCollum's remarks at the Health Care Town Forum, articles debunking rumors, and a summary of the health care bill. Every person was able to fill out a form with their remarks and any requests.
The group demanded a health care forum. Then they were informed that Betty McCollum's health care forum had already been held on July 1. The group then asked how come they didn't know about the health care forum. All of Betty McCollum's forums, town meetings, actions and views are easily accessible by simply signing up for her newsletter. So it was really obvious that this group had just suddenly developed an interest in health care legislation. The staff had a tape of the health care forum ready to roll, which the group refused. So having been provided with a way to provide input and with multiple sources of Betty McCollum's information, it became really obvious that group's sole purpose was mostly disruption. One person actually brought a cowbell!
Health insurance is not health care, and we should not confuse the two. Health insurers have denied promised health care even onto death and yet we don't call them murderers. Health care insurers have made sick people fight for their insurance, fight for their choice of care and fight for their choice of doctors. Even after accepting the money for insurance, health insurers have been able to go back and disallow insurance. So even when one has insurance, one doesn't really know if one has insurance. Mainstream media has made this an invisible story.
Yet despite the lack of news coverage, people have figured out that health insurance is a very broken system. A NBC/Wall Street Journal Survey showed that 76% of Americans want both a public and a private option in our health care plan.
I saw Representative Keith Ellison do a masterful performance of rallying people to be informed, to be active and to advocate. A summary of the forum is on a video below the fold. The huge forum was overfilled with people filling every seat, lining the walls and spilling into hallways. The first hour was filled with a number of short presentations that were well known to the audience. Then Representative Keith Ellison led the discussion:
Keith Ellison did excellent speech that you can see at the beginning tape where he set the expectations that this would a long process like the civil rights movement and that we would not get all we want the first time.
By allowing short one minute speeches (later half minute speeches) Keith Ellison is allowing people to take that first crucial step towards activism, speaking out. People spoke out and felt good about it.
The discussion evolved to how to campaign best for single payer health care, or the second option, a robust public option. Best facts, best persuasions, best words and best methods were shared. Some of that is captured on the tape.
Above all, at every step, Representative Ellison was encouraging, confirming and urging people on to more action. Several times, Representative Ellison made a mini-speech about the importance of writing and contacting the people who represent us. At the end, he asked for a commitment to write by raising hands. A storm of hands went up, captured in the video.
At the annual Bruce Vento Dinner, last night, Congresswoman Betty McCollum rocked the room with her speech on healthcare, with statements like:
Congresswoman Betty McCollum's office provided me the text of Betty McCollum's opening statement at her health care forum. She speaks for me! She represents me and the fourth district very well! And she supports the public option! This excellent picture of Betty was taken by 
