DO IT NOW DOSSIER: CALL MN ALEC MEMBERS NOW !!

 http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=230317733668739

MY previous post on call out ALEC




This is the ALEC list we were talking about at last night's
council meeting with Common Cause's state director.  I've also included the
names and phones at the end.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:  Call those on the list today and tomorrow.  They'll be
back by the weekend, some earlier.  Please send this out to all Minnesota
MoveOn members encouraging them to call and ask where they are this week.
Encourage Rebuild The Dream partners to also participate.  A suggested
script below:

"Hi, I'm hoping to meet [Representative/Senator] [Last Name] during our
state recess this week.  What events will she be at?"

Those who inform callers they are out of state, at a "task force" meeting,
in New Orleans, or at the American Legislative Exchange Council meeting
should:
1.  Email responses to Common Cause mdean@commoncause.org
2.  You can also post the results publicly via twitter as:  @CommonCauseMN
[Rep./Sen. [Name] staff confirmed in New Orleans] #ALECexposed

Common Cause will then file lawsuits against the legislators for violating
campaign finance rules.

NOTES:
Members and staff rarely refer to it as ALEC, chosing instead to make it
sound official with the "American" and other big words.  If you ask
specially about ALEC, the likely response is "I'm not aware of what that
is." followed by misinformation about what the legislator is actually doing,
so avoid saying ALEC during personal calls or visits.

Common Cause has a nearly complete list of Minnesota legislators here:
http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/search.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=486
0375

Primary names/phones to call (capitol/district #s), though calling all
elected officials you can in addition to these will also help discover
unknown ALEC members:
Carol McFarlane         (651) 296-5363 / (651) 429-6511
Chris Gerlach (651) 296-4120 / (952) 432-4100
Michael L. Beard        (651) 296-8872 / (952) 445-9374
Gen Olson       (651) 296-1282 / (952) 472-3306
Pat Garofalo    (651) 296-1069 / (651) 463-2112
Sondra L. Erickson      (651) 296-6746 / (763) 389-4498
Dave Thompson (651) 296-5252 / (612) 385-5950
Patricia Pariseau (retired, no numbers available)
Gretchen Hoffman        (651) 296-5655 / (218) 342-2010
Paul Anderson (651) 296-4317 / (320) 239-2726
Mary Kiffmeyer  (651) 296-4237 /      (763) 263-3876
Matt Dean       (651) 296-3018 /      (651) 429-8449
Roger C. Chamberlain (651) 296-1253
Ron Shimanski   (651) 296-1534 / (320) 327-0112
Ted Daley       (651) 297-8073 /      (651) 686-2839
Linda Runbeck   (651) 296-2907 / (763) 784-8822
Pam Myhra       (651) 296-4212 / 952.894.0544
Bruce D. Anderson (651) 296-5063 / (763) 682-1480
Connie Doepke  (651) 296-4315 / (952) 449-8696
Mike Parry      (651) 296-9457 / (507) 833-1883
Steve Drazkowski        (651) 296-2273 / (507) 843-3711

-----Original Message-----
From: tippingpointstrategies@gmail.com
[mailto:tippingpointstrategies@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Mike Dean - Common
Cause MN
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 11:04 AM
To: Henry (moveOn)
Subject: task force list

Henry:

Here is the list of MN legislators that are task force members.  It
will be released publicly in the next hour.

Encourage people to ask where their legislators are today?

Mike Dean
Common Cause Minnesota
612-770-6908

mdean@commoncause.org
Web site - http://www.commoncause.org/mn

Angry Constituents Converge on Rep Erik Paulsen’s Office

http://www.theuptake.org/2011/07/27/angry-constituents-converge-on-rep-erik-paulsens-office/


An angry, sometimes hostile crowd of about 75 of Congressman Erik Paulsen’s constituents gathered at his Eden Prairie office to express serious concern over his support of drastic budget cuts proposed by the House Republicans.

The overflow crowd was a broad cross section of voters from his district representing a range of ages. There were some supporters, but most expressed extreme displeasure with the way Paulsen and the political parties are facing the crisis.

One constituent saw the meeting as a microcosm of what is happening in Washington.

“It’s kind of hard to have a productive dialog or conversation in a more confrontational environment … And I think that part of the thing is , we’re kind of seeing this in Congress right now. Because a lot of people aren’t willing to even listen to other points of views even though they know we have to meet some kind of kind of compromise. But that’s kind of where we’re at. And I think what we have to do is find some way around that so that we can work together.

Representative Paulsen was not present for the meeting, instead sending a staffer to talk to the crowd.The UpTake was not allowed to tape the what happened but we were allowed to stay and talked to people after the meeting.

Few answers, lots of anger

“People asked a bunch of questions and we didn’t get much for answers” said one attendee after the meeting.

Several noted Paulsen’s staff member was new (he has been with Paulsen only since January) and didn’t have many answers. The staff member said he didn’t know what ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) was even though Paulsen is known to be associated with it. ALEC is notorious for writing many right-wing bills that have been passed in state legislatures in a cookie cutter fashion.

Some were upset that Paulsen held a tele-town hall meeting right while President Obama was speaking Monday night, trying to draw them away from the TV set to talk in an environment where Paulsen can control the conversation, yet Paulsen was not willing to show up today to face the angry crowd.

“It’s always interesting that we never seem to be able to talk to Representative Paulsen. He’s always gone or doing something else and yet we’re all his constituents,” said one of the attendees. “He chooses not to be available and this is time for him to hear what our views are and our concerns and it’s really becoming a tragic time in our country’s history and he’s part of that.”

When the anger subsided a bit, most were pleading for balanced, non-ideological solutions including restore more tax fairness with increased upper income taxes, stopping many of the federal studies plus balanced budget cuts including the Wars and subsidies to a variety of businesses. The threats to Social Security and Medicare were a major part of the source of anger.

“It’s deplorable what our country is right now”, said one man after the meeting. ” We’re being controlled by a fringe element of a political party. It’s absolutely disgusting and we’re going to go down the tubes here economically very shortly if that rest of that party continues to kow-tow to that minority.”

Others missed their former Republican representative Jim Ramstad. “I mean Ramstad was a moderate and I don’t think he would have supported half the stuff that this guy Paulsen does. I was a Republican all my life until Bush. When Bush came along I cant’… my bumper sticker says ‘Too poor to be a Republican. Too smart to be a Democrat’ And so I joined the coffee party.”

This meeting was organized by MoveOn.org in cooperation with a number of other volunteer groups and was part of a nation-wide series of meetings on this day at all Congressional Offices.

•  2
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CLICK PICTURE TO HEAR WHAT PEOPLE HAD TO SAY AFTER MEETING WITH STAFF FROM CONGRESSMAN PAULSEN'S OFFICE

ACTION MPLS Juy 23rd versus Tax dodger, union busting FEDEX

EMERGENCY! Rally CANCELLED.

The potential for violence from the right is way too high, due to the Governor's announcement.

This event WILL be rescheduled, a media release put out AND we will attempt to reach every single person who has been flyered or emailed.

We are not pacifists.  But we know a bad situation when we see one.  And we are not falling for any "traps" or tricks.

Please exercise patience. The Poor, the Disabled, the Vulnerable, the Vets, the Homeless, the morally outraged will all be fighting back in the days to come.

Let's get our ducks in a row and do it properly and legally.

Thank you,
US Uncut Minnesota

What to do about the US sinking ship, ASAP

Washington's proposed budget for the coming year sends a clear message: The wrath of budget cuts will fall upon the shoulders of hard-working Americans. That's unacceptable. Obama seeks to trim $1.1 trillion from the budget in the next ten years by cutting or eliminating over 200 federal programs, many dedicated to social services and education. For instance, it cuts in half funding to subsidize heating for low-income Americans; limits an expansion of the Pell grant program for students; and decreases Environmental Protection Agency funding by over 12%. Meanwhile, Republicans are using their new House majority to slash spending even more brutally. The GOP has made it clear that they are bent on raiding funds for Social Security, Medicare, education; determined to kill health care reform; and gut needed investments in infrastructure, climate change and job creation, at a time when America needs it most. These cuts will come on top of very painful austerity measures made at the state-level across our nation–-worth hundreds of billions--since the recession began. In short, budget cuts demonstrate that Washington has abandoned ordinary Americans. But there is an alternative: Make corporate tax avoiders pay. Enjoying record profits and taxpayer-funded bailouts as the economy slowly recovers from a financial crisis, nearly two-thirds of US corporations don't pay any income taxes, instead opting to abuse tax loopholes and offshore tax havens. According to this study from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, 83 of the top 100 publicly traded corporations that operate in the US exploit corporate tax havens. Since 2009, America’s most profitable companies such as ExxonMobil, General Electric, Bank of America and Citigroup all paid a grand total of $0 in federal income taxes to Uncle Sam. Tax havens alone account for up to $1 trillion in tax revenue lost every decade, money that could be invested in K-12 education, colleges, public health, job creation and hundreds of other worthy public programs. If we pay our taxes, why don’t they? If corporations profit here, shouldn't they pay here? It’s time for ordinary Americans to fight back and demand an end to the corporate tax avoidance. Join US Uncut and together let's make corporate tax avoiders pay. US Uncut is a horizontal movement. There are no centrally planned protests. If you want one in your town or city, you'll have to take it on yourself. Read our blog about what to do next. Also remember to visit UK Uncut for some inspiration. See you on the streets.

Emergency!REAL CUTS HURT REAL PEOPLE.

                                  Saint Paul Minnesota
Sat Jul 9th 2011 

 Facebook event » 
 

This planning for the gutting of MN healthcare must be stopped. No cuts! No concessions!
And we are the guys to save the our healthcare! The Legislators are NOT listening; they are not leading. We've shouted that all session.
REAL CUTS HURT REAL PEOPLE.
Come in scrubs, come showing how bloody awful the cuts are, make YOUR VOICE heard. We're not having it! We're not having it.
We have the solution to both the health care crisis and the MN budget stalemate that works for PEOPLE.
We will have a solidarity dinner on July 15th, Tuesday, 5 pm, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. FREE dinner and groups to discuss solidarity and showing how we can "save the patient". We can discuss how best to get the press and our Legislature to listen to us.
Health Care:The Skeleton in the Capitol's Budget Closet
Minnesota's state budget crisis ultimately cannot be solved without resolving the health care crisis.
Structural solutions, such as consolidating numerous currently fragmented health insurance programs
and services administered by nearly every state agency at the capitol, are required. Instead, both Governor
Dayton and the legislature's solutions are the usual stop-gap approach of massive cuts; Dayton by $600 million,
the republican-controlled legislature by $1.6 billion. Such inhumane, savage cuts to seniors in nursing homes,
people with developmental disabilities whose care attendants are their lifeline for staying in their homes, and thousands
more on MNCare, only kick the can down the road to further devastating cuts to sick human beings in the future.
Beyond this has been some talk of surcharges to hospitals, nursing home etc.
Health care, currently the second largest cost component of the state budge at 38 percent, is by far the single largest cost
driver, rising rapidly, and expected to surpass education as single largest cost component of the state budget within one or
two bienniums. In fact, the problem with education costs IS health care costs. Health care cost inflation
consistently outstrips everything in its path including overall inflation, wages, state GDP. Thus, the Dept of Human Services
$11 billion budget increases at a torrid average annual rate of 10% translating to a $2 billion increase per biennium.
Consolidation of all state publicly financed health care purchasing into one department of the state government was
originally proposed by the 1992 Minnesota Health Care Access Commission.Minnesota state agencies currently
administering health care insurance purchasing include: Dept of Human Services, Dept of MN Management and Budget
(subsumed by Dept of Employer Relations); Dept of Corrections; Dept of Labor and Industry, MN Comprehensive Health
Association; School Districts; and potentially city and county employees. Departments that regulate health care providers
and administer health care services include: MN Dept of Health, MN Dept of Commerce.
The total number of people already covered by these programs is well over 1 million including spouses and dependents. Consolidating ALL
publicly-funded health insurance programs and services administered by the state of MN into one department would save at least $2 billion
annually in administrative efficiency and economies of scale and solve the Minnesota state budget deficit crisis, without cutting seniors, the sick,
disabled, and the poor. Furthermore, consolidation would serve as a framework for potential bipartisan negotiation because it is consistent with traditional
Republican tenets of fiscally responsibility: addresses the spending side; streamlines government operations; eliminates government waste,
redundancy and duplication; and would NOT raise taxes.
joel albers Pharm.D. Ph.D. Health economist, Pharmacist
member of the Universal Health Care Action Network of MN

Minnesota Shutdown Rally Protest June 30th

June 30th - US Uncut Minnesota and friends (Citizens Committee to stop a shutdown) hold a rally.  We know the politicos aren't listening to us.

We know the only way they will do that is for us to FIGHT BACK.