No town hall meetings for Walz?

So says a letter writer to the Austin Daily Herald-

"I called the office of Congressman Tim Walz and learned that he will not be holding town hall meetings during the August recess. Walz’s office said town hall meetings are not constructive; he is holding targeted meetings instead."

Suddenly, town hall meetings are not constructive? Sounds like someone is afraid to hear what the voters think of Obamacare.

Where is Congressman Walz?

The US House of Representatives are on their August recess, home to talk to constituents about important bills, notably the Health Care Reform bill, popularly known as Obamacare.

While other congressmen are holding townhall meetings across the country, Congressman Walz has none scheduled. His website lists no public events coming up, and calls to his Mankato office get a response of 'no information available at this time'.

Congressman Walz has asked residents to call or write him, but given that he is back in Minnesota for almost a month, is it too much to ask to be able to ask him a question in person?

26B candidate

Former Medford mayor announces candidacy

From the Owatonna People's Press-

MEDFORD — Former Medford Mayor Dan Kaiser announced Thursday that he would seek the Republican nomination for the District 26B seat in the 2010 legislative election.

Kaiser, who did not seek a third term as Medford mayor last year, announced his candidacy for the Minnesota House of Representatives in a statement released to the press.

“Minnesota faces many challenges while also providing great opportunities, and I believe I can make a difference by serving in the Minnesota Legislature,” Kaiser said in the statement.

District 26B includes eastern and southern Steele County, as well as the Steele County communities of Medford, Blooming Prairie and Ellendale, southern Rice County, and the communities of Faribault and Morristown. The legislative seat is currently held by Rep. Patti Fritz, DFL-Faribault.

Issues survey

Tell us what you think.

Poll numbers on the budget showdown

The StarTribune Instant Poll is showing a slight edge towards the DFL solution for the budget in raising taxes, 44% to 40%

The Owatonna People's Press however, showed today a 2-1 margin of support for no new taxes, 64% to 34%.

Of course these are informal and non-scientific numbers, but they give a sense of where Owatonna stands in relation to the rest of the state.

The budget shortfall

Courtesy of the Owatonna People's Press-

As the budget crisis in Minnesota has crested and is now in full flood stage, it is interesting to note that much like the federal government sitting on a significant source of revenue via drilling for oil in ANWR, Minnesota has spent a decade sitting on its own untapped source of revenue-casino gambling.

Sen Dick Day has been calling for a full casino at Canterbury Downs for a decade, which would have generated at least 100 million dollars each year for the last 10 years.

Governor Pawlenty tried to involve the Native American tribes in 2005 by offering an Indian run casino in the metro area that would also pay taxes to the state, likely adding 100 million to state coffers every year.

Both ideas have been shot down by the DFL. Both ideas would have generated hundreds of millions of dollars for the state budget. Both ideas would have collected tax revenue from people who voluntarily choose to gamble. Both ideas would have created hundreds if not thousands of new jobs.

As the DFL spins the outcome of the budget with stories of public libraries closing, police laid off and poor people dying for lack of medical coverage, please keep in mind that there were other options available for solving Minnesota's budget that didn't involve raising taxes.

Tea Party petition delivered

Yesterday, after nearly a month of emails and phone calls, I finally got to meet with Congressman Walz to give him over 150 signatures of his constituents asking that the stimulus bill be repealed and that Congress stop bailing out private businesses. Whether or not he acts on the message we delivered, he certainly can't say that he didn't hear us.

The next Tea Party in Owatonna is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, July 1st in Central Park.