Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) will be holding a tele-townhall meeting this Thursday about healthcare reform and it's imminent passage.
You may have heard that Congress is on the verge of passing historic reforms to fix our broken health care system. The House and Senate have both passed historic bills that will lower costs, protect people who have insurance, and provide coverage for the millions who don't. The next step is to get these basic reforms signed into law and build on that progress. As your Representative, I want to hear from you before Congress votes on health care reform legislation in the coming days.
I want to invite you to join me for a conversation about the health care reform legislation. I will hold a Telephone Town Hall on Thursday, March 18th from 7 to 8 PM. I will share a summary of what's in the legislation and answer whatever questions you may have. I am here to listen to you, so make your voice heard and join the call.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and I sat down at a coffee shop near his congressional office in Minneapolis to talk. I wanted to find out his take on healthcare reform, what's coming up in Congress and see "the goatee" for myself.
"I started it over August Recess last year," Keith said. "You know, just didn't shave for a couple of days. Then shaved my cheeks. Nobody said anything about it, nobody said 'it's gotta go' so I've kept it." Including his wife, Kim.
After getting the discussion of facial hair out of the way, we got to the biggest question on everybody's mind regarding Congress: healthcare reform.
"You can't arouse people's imaginations for a year straight and then not do something," Keith explained. "I think we're going to do something. I think we're going to use reconciliation."
"Look, social security and medicare were smaller at first," he continued. "They expanded it after they passed it."
After the fold, there's more about healthcare reform, plus the climate change bill, his views on the progressive movement, stimulus and a mid-flight impromptu birthday party featuring then-President George W. Bush and Karl Rove.
I just wanted to share with you a quick note about my friend Rep. Keith Ellison.
Keith is a remarkable public servant and a true friend. We've known each other since law school, and I'm very honored by his commitment to make Minnesota work again.
As many of you know, Keith was an early endorser of my campaign, and as we get ready to huddle in our schools and community centers tonight, I wanted to share a message from Keith about why he's supporting our campaign.
Listen to what Keith has to say:
As a reminder, tonight is precinct caucuses, and I'm asking for you to caucus for me.
We face many challenges, but we also have great opportunities before us. Working together, we can build a better Minnesota for everyone.
Huffington Post put together their top ten most inspiring events of the decade and Keith Ellison made the list. They think his election as the first Muslim was inspiring. Follow this link and vote for Keith's victory as most inspiring.
I couldn't agree more. I fondly recall the amazing electricity in the Blue Nile on primary night (which I live-blogged). I was the one with the internet connection and I got to announce that Keith was going to be our next Congresscritter. Fondly is an understatement. I'll never forget that night.
Representatives Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Michele Bachmann (R-MN) couldn't be any more polar opposite. Ellison is remarkably honest while Bachmann lies with alarming regularity. Bachmann is even up for an award for biggest lie of the year. Ellison works hard for his district while Bachmann has never passed a single piece of legislation (resolutions don't count) during her entire tenure in the MN Senate and while in Congress.
While Bachmann's racism has been ignored by Minnesota's media so has Ellison's efforts to bridge the gaps between African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, recent immigrants and those us of European descent.
So while Minnesota media like the Star Tribune and MinnPost can't stop fawning over Bachmann despite her documented dishonesty, bigotry and insanity, the latest news about a National Journal poll of DC insiders is a refreshing splash of reality that likes of the Strib and MinnPost cannot ignore:
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) occupies what is considered a safe Democratic seat. The Cook Political Report ranks MN-05 as D+23. The Republicans recognize this and ignore this district.
Of course, Keith did have a Republican opponent last time out, Barb Davis White. The MN Republican Party told her to shut up when she complained about being ignored. She ran a good enough campaign to break the 20% barrier.
Keith had another opponent as well. This guy's campaign was so lame that he ended up picketing the Strib offices because they wouldn't mention him.
We need to grow America. We need to protect America.
Strong Homeland Security
We need to maintain a strong homeland security. Our forces should be greatly commended for excellent job they have done protecting the citizens of the United States since September 11, 2001.
Yuh hum. Not kidding. Her words, not mine. Surprisingly, Torgerson claims to have a degree in political science. It all sounds rather innocuous and slightly daft until you reach the sections on Israel, Iran and Islam.
I'll be short, I know you have a lot of work to do.
Later today you will be voting on H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Your college from Michigan, John Dingell, made a very compelling case to vote yes on the bill. Since 1957 Representative Dingell has worked tirelessly to provide quality healthcare coverage to all Americans. This is as important a bill as you will ever vote on. Reforming the healthcare system in America to provide care to all has been a core Democratic Party priority since President Harry Truman proposed universal health insurance nearly 64 years ago. But you both remain publicly undecided on this bill.
You are both great Democrats. You do Minnesota proud. You've got some concerns, some good, some bad. But this is the bill before you. It's a good bill. And today you have one of the biggest choices of your career to make. You will take a vote that will go down in history.
I have confidence that you'll do the right thing. Don't let Minnesota down.
President Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 into law in late May of this year. The law prevents credit card companies from arbitrarily jacking up people's rates ... consumer gouging just isn't cool.
The law was to go into effect in February 2009. The credit card companies said they needed the time to update their software. This turned out to be an excuse to engage in a little consumer gouging before the law went into effect.
So Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and a bunch of other Dems got together to do something about it.
"Unfortunately, some credit card companies have abused the time that was given them to convert their computer software to meet the requirements of the law, to make last-minute rate hikes to bilk consumers of as much as they can before the law we passed kicks into gear," Ellison stated.
"This is, plain and simple, consumer gouging on the part of credit card companies at its worst," Ellison stated. "We gave the card companies a good faith grace period before the enacted reforms came into play - and they took the consumers and small businesses to the cleaners."
"The passage of H.R. 3639, the Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009 puts an end to these practices that take hard-earned money from Minnesota families," the 5th District Congressman said.
(Ellison email press release)
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) have introduced same day registration bills into their respective chambers. We Minnesotans know how well it works and most often lead the nation in voter turnout. Cosponsors, at this point, include Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN) among others.
"Helping more Americans exercise their right to vote is in the best interests of our democracy," Feingold said. "The system in Wisconsin, which allows for same day registration, has worked well for more than 30 years and is a major reason why Wisconsin is a national leader in voter turnout. In fact, the states that frequently have the highest voter turnout all allow Election Day registration. We should take action to get more people involved in the political process and same day registration is a proven way to do it."
"Minnesota routinely leads the nation in voter turnout - usually over 70%," Ellison stated. "We do so because in Minnesota our right to vote is a sacred right and a moral obligation. In Minnesota we do everything that encourages, fosters and facilitates everyone's ability to exercise that right. Enacting a National Election Day Registration law would do for the nation what same day registration has done for our State - give a voice to all who want to vote."
(Rep. Ellison press release)
Somehow I don't think any Republicans will be supporting this.
I took a look at Tarryl Clark's FEC filing and found some interesting things. The 18 PACs who gave only make up $48K of the $308K she raised. That's only 15.5%. It also shows who believes enough in her to donate. Pretty decent list.
Keith Ellison
Jim Oberstar
Collin Peterson
Progressive Patriot's Fund
What's that you say? You don't recognize Progressive Patriot's Fund? That's Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), one of our progressive heroes in the Senate. It's his leadership PAC. Here's what he said about his PAC.
"When we founded the Progressive Patriots Fund, we promised to support candidates and go around the country, playing a key role in the larger effort to build the Democratic Party throughout America," Feingold said. "The strides we made this cycle have been astounding and with the Democratic victories yesterday, we're one step closer to getting our country back on track."
...
"Throughout the country, we saw firsthand that people everywhere want a party that fights for health care for all Americans, works to protect and create jobs, takes the steps necessary to ensure fiscal responsibility, and does everything in their power to fight terrorism while also protecting our freedoms," Feingold said. "We believe in a 50-state strategy and although we came up short in a few races yesterday, we laid the groundwork for Democrats to win in the years to come. While many groups just targeted sure winners, we made sure to help candidates across the board. Some were a long shot but it wasn't that long ago that I was a long shot Senate candidate here in Wisconsin."
Much has been said about Rep. Michele Bachmann on this blog in relation to her inability to do anything for her constituents. Maybe because she's absent so much. Maybe because she believes that political grandstanding is more important than looking after her constituents.
On the other hand, consider Rep. Keith Ellison. He's the complete opposite in so many ways. African-American. Honest. Muslim. Hard-working. Sane. Thoughtful. Everything Michele is not. He does the people's business in Washington, DC. Here's yet another example of Keith's good work:
Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minneapolis) secured a $750,000 appropriation for the City of Minneapolis to build a new Emergency Operations Center in a bill approved by the House today. The funds were included in H.R. 2892, the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill for FY 2010.
The bill is expected to easily pass the Senate and will be signed into law by President Obama. The current Operations Center was used to coordinate the local, state, and federal emergency response to the August 2007 collapse of the Interstate 35W Bridge in Minneapolis.
"Thirteen people were killed and over 100 people were injured when the 35W Bridge collapsed two years ago," Ellison stated. "We now know that the rapid response of the region's first responders saved countless lives. One of the key lessons learned from the bridge collapse is that a well-organized emergency response with state of the art equipment can save lives," Ellison said.
"Minneapolis was able to respond so well to the catastrophe of the 35W Bridge collapse because we had invested in emergency preparedness training and technology. Even though our response to the collapse was considered excellent by all accounts, we know that maintaining our ability to respond to disasters requires ongoing preparation and investment. This federal funding for a new emergency operations center will help us to stay prepared and we are very thankful for Rep. Ellison's efforts to secure this appropriation," Minneapolis Mayor, RT Rybak stated.
(Ellison press release email)
Brian Falldin's challenge for a Republican to find one positive, tangible thing that Michele has gotten done for her district in DC still stands unanswered. Would Michele ever deliver something like this?
The editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Nancy Barnes, and it's publisher, Christopher Harte, displayed their rank hypocrisy today by putting news of an investigation into Rep. Keith Ellison's (D-MN) trip to Saudi Arabia on the front page. Barnes and Harte have different standards for Democrats than they have for Republicans.
When Rep. Michele Bachmann goes off on one of her insane rants, Strib reporters call her "controversial" and "outspoken." Reporters apparently consider analysis of the truth about what Bachmann says "boring" and not newsworthy. Barnes and Harte put stories about Bachmann embarrassing herself and lying (usually these happen simultaneously) on the inside pages of the Metro section.
But when the House's ethics panel requests more information about Keith's trip which even reporter Kevin Diaz reports as "merely a minor, technical correction" to follow the proper guidelines, this is front page material.
After a months-long review by a U.S. House ethics panel, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., has disclosed the amount of his privately-paid trip to Mecca in December.
The trip, paid for by the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, cost $13,350, Ellison said Thursday.
The two-week trip to Saudi Arabia, which Ellison described as a personal religious pilgrimage, or Hajj, prompted little discussion until June when Ellison filed financial travel reports that failed to disclose the amount the Muslim group had paid for his travel.
In releasing the amount on Thursday, Ellison held to his previous assertion that he was following the instructions of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, commonly known as the ethics committee.
"I never had a moral objection to giving the number out," said Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. "But the rules said I didn't have to, so I didn't. Now I am."
(Welcome its_oshea, who's going to be taking over the Mud Soup entries! Volunteers are welcome -- we usually don't bite. - promoted by Joe Bodell)
I'll be trying to do E's Daily MN Blog round-up, otherwise known as "Mud Soup" going forward. I'll read all the MN news that's fit to type, so you don't have to, then I'll pick out what sticks out and share it here.
As promised by his wife Franni, Sen. Al Franken introduced the Expand School Meals Act. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) introduced the House bill. The bill's goal is to ensure that no kids are hungry in school.
Currently, Minnesota provides free school meals to only very low-income Minnesota children, requiring thousands of children in low-income families to pay a reduced price of 40 cents for school meals. Many of these children cannot afford to pay, and they're being turned away from the school lunch counter.
The Expand School Meals Act would eliminate the reduced-price category and ensure that more than 54,000 Minnesota students get the meals they need.
"Parents have long known that children cannot learn on empty stomachs," said Sen. Franken. "Hungry children perform worse on achievement tests, have trouble concentrating, and are more likely to act out in school. Securing access to healthy foods for low-income children is not only a means of reducing child hunger, but also an important strategy for narrowing the achievement gap."
(Home Town Source)
Keith had this to say:
"Hungry minds cannot learn on empty stomachs," said Rep. Ellison. "This is why Senator Franken and I have introduced the Expand School Meals Act. Low-income children in Minnesota, and around the nation, require healthy meals to excel during the school day. America cannot remain competitive with hungry children in our schools."
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) continues his good work in Washingon, DC. This time he's signed on as an original co-sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act. This bill would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). While the right wingers will be clutching their pearls and wringing their hands, six states have passed laws granting gay and lesbian couples the full benefits of marriage since DOMA passed. It's about time federal law recognizes and protects all marriages rather than discriminates.
Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minneapolis) recently became an original sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act. This legislation would effectively repeal a discriminatory law that was passed in 1996. Known as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) allowed states to refuse to recognize valid civil marriages of same-sex couples, and denied same-sex couples, regardless of their marital status, the right to federal statutes, benefits and protections (including social security) applicable to all other married people.
"I am a proud cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act because I believe in equality. I believe in all people having equal rights," Ellison said. "America started out giving certain rights for a limited set of people - white men of property. Since then we have been expanding rights to people of all standing - as we should - and not taking them away as DOMA does."
Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, recently introduced the bill along with ninety other Members of Congress - including Congressman Ellison. "The full repeal of DOMA is long overdue," Nadler stated. "When DOMA was passed in 1996, its full harm may not have been apparent to all Members of Congress because same-sex couples were not yet able to marry...Now, in 2009, we have thousands of married same-sex couples in this country, living openly, raising families and paying taxes in states that have granted them the right to marry. It has become abundantly clear that DOMA is causing these couples concrete and lasting harm."
(Ellison's press release email)
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and I sat down at a coffee shop near his congressional office in Minneapolis to talk. I wanted to find out his take on healthcare reform, what's coming up in Congress and see "the goatee" for myself.
