May 2021 Newsletter
Dear Mom
by Al Brown
Dear Mom-First of all, you don’t make a million dollars a year. Your taxes aren’t going up.
I’m beginning to understand why Georgia’s folks loved FDR so much. I’m also starting to understand their distaste for Republicans.
After the Pandemic, I also understand why they had so much toilet paper.
I know it sounds preachy, but FDR answered the call when millions of Americans were dying, starving and broke. Big Shot Herbert Hoover did everything he could to keep taxes down and allow the Great Depression to fade away – a market correction.
In 2020, another gold-plated big shot, Trump, mishandled the Pandemic and economic collapse. He caused hundreds of thousands to die needlessly. His refusal to support recovery efforts mirrored that of Hoover in 1932.
Hoover vetoed the 1932 Garner-Wagner bill, claiming it was full of pork. Only after it was reduced, did he sign the bill. Doing so allowed unemployment to continue to grow to more than 24 percent, eventually reversing under FDR and the New Deal.
Americans were dying in the streets in those years. I’ve never seen a picture or story in the archives where those starving men, women and children formed a food line in Hoover’s neighborhood.
It’s easier to ignore what you don’t see.
Hoover assured the country in 1930 that the Great Depression would end in 60 days.
How many times did Trump tell us the Pandemic was over before the death toll passed 100,000, 200,000 … 500,000.
I suspect Hoover could find a seat in today’s GOP. He might need a better gun cabinet and understanding of aliens to get through the primaries.
Biden, like FDR, has set his sights on a future that includes clean air and drinking water, internet everywhere, good roads, an end to systemic racism, and access to health care for all Americans.
Yes, taxes will go up on the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
Which almost feels sinful after the millions upon millions of dollars spent on ads, lobbying and a media empire dedicated to the interests of the wealthy and the white. Democracy will not die if we finally remove the lead pipes poisoning black and brown children across the U.S. Thousands of parents will go to sleep at night not worrying that their son or daughter will wake with the beginnings of a learning disability or cancer because they couldn’t afford bottled water this week.
Think about that for a minute. What that must feel like carrying around. You finally get a place to live and raise a family only to find out the pipes are poisoning your kids. How much is that worth, Mr. Hoover? Mitch?
Democracy will die if we stand still. If we fail to help those we promised to serve, if we pave the way for an authoritarian to return to the White House.
The “American Jobs Plan,” a $2.3 trillion program for infrastructure, will move the country forward to compete with China in an infrastructure race we clearly are losing. Infrastructure that incudes millions of jobs.
We, like Americans almost 90 years ago, find ourselves at a turning point.
Do we turn back as Hoover did?
Bicker and fight to add as little as we can rather than the investment the future demands. President Joe asked for ideas and solutions from Democrats and Republicans alike. His one caveat.
Get it done … quickly.
Because in 1932, Hoover’s veto allowed the unemployment rate to continue to rise with too little, too late. Only with FDR’s New Deal did America recover.
More than 90 years later, President Joe’s Build Back Better can prove that Democracy works for everyone … entrepreneurs and dreamers alike. Folks on Main Street as well as Wall Street.
I know I’m wound up, but this is a big moment. Millions of kids and families will find themselves with a brighter future, a happier home, a fuller belly with the legislation working its way through Congress now. The likes of which may not come our way again for another 90 years.
Love you,
Your Democratic son
THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: MOVING AHEAD
Joe Biden remains popular. In the largest recent poll of almost 15,000 registered voters, his approval rating was 57% (with 39% disapproving). He has issued 40 Executive Orders in his first 100 days, the most of any President since Franklin Roosevelt, and revoked 39 Executive Orders, most from the Trump administration, the most of any President.
On Wednesday he gave his first speech to a joint session of Congress and outlined both his expansive infrastructure program, the American Jobs Plan (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/) of over $2 trillion in the next eight years and introduced the American Families Plan (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/28/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan/), which would provide universal pre-school for 3 and 4-year-olds, cover tuition for two years of community college, make child care more affordable, and start a paid family and medical leave program among other family support policies, paid for by increasing taxes on corporations and individuals earning over $400,000 a year. These will now go to Congress for its action.
Immunizing people against COVID-19 is going well. About 150 million Americans have received at least one dose of vaccine and 100 million are fully vaccinated. The CDC no longer thinks people who are fully vaccinated need to wear masks outside while walking, running, hiking or biking alone, or when in small gatherings. COVID-19 daily deaths have fallen to under 700 a day.
MINNESOTA REGULAR LEGISLATIVE SESSION IS ALMOST DONE FOR 2021-PROCEEDING AS EXPECTED
The Minnesota Legislature has two weeks left in its regular session. Both the House of Representatives, which passed a great set of bills, and the Senate have passed their omnibus budget bills committee by committee, but because they are very different, they are going to conference committees in hopes a bill that Senate and House conferees agree on can emerge from each committee. If that happens, each House will need to pass the conference agreement (which contains the revised bill) in order for the bill to go to Governor Walz. Conference reports can’t be amended, so each House must have an up-or-down vote. If the Legislature doesn’t pass a complete budget by May 17, a special session will be necessary to pass any compromise that’s reached later. We hope a budget will pass by June 30, so we don’t face another partial government shutdown.
We found out on Monday, when the U.S. Census released its initial results, Minnesota will keep eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives for through at least 2032, beating out New York for the 435th seat by less than 100 people. We had just over 5,700,00 people. Based on earlier projections, the 1st Congressional District, the one we’re in, will need to add about 30,000 more people in redistricting to have an equal population with other congressional districts.
The Census data needed for redistricting is not expected until the end of September. The Legislature has primary responsibility for redistricting, but it’s not clear how it will do that when not in session (though Governor Walz can call it back into session if needed.) If the Legislature is unable to agree on a redistricting map, which is likely given that Republicans control the Senate and the DFL controls the House, Minnesota’s courts will do the redistricting. It has to be done by February 15, 2022. Both House districts in Senate District 26 are thought to have more people currently than they should have after redistricting (when they should have 42,610 people), so we will be giving up people to other districts. We don’t know yet how the geography of the districts will change, however.
SENATE DISTRICT 26 DFL CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETS MAY 10
Our next Central Committee meeting will be Monday, May 10 from 7-9 PM. It will be a virtual meeting on Zoom. DFL meetings are public, so if you want to “attend”, contact the Chair at mark.liebow@gmail.com. Our guest speaker will be Britta Moen, the new Rural Organizing Director for the Minnesota DFL, who was the Field Director for the Feehan campaign in 2020. We will hear officer reports, continue strategic planning, discuss our budget for 2021, and decide where in Rochester we will hold our 2022 precinct caucuses.
We are looking for a Vice Chair, an Outreach and Inclusion Officer, and for three Directors, two of which must be filled by people who live in House District 26B. The Vice-Chair and Director positions must be filled by people not identifying as male. Please contact the Chair at mark.liebow@gmail.com if you’re interested in running for one of these positions.
GIVE DFL CANDIDATES SOME MONEY WITHOUT SPENDING ANY YOURSELF
If you’re still doing your 2020 Minnesota taxes, you can increase how much our local candidates who participate in the Political Contribution Refund Program will get in 2022 without spending any of your own money, even temporarily.
Partway down the first page of the 2020 Minnesota Individual Income Tax Form (M1) is a section titled State Elections Campaign Fund, where you can designate $5 of your state income taxes to go to a political party. As the form says, “This will not increase your tax or reduce your refund.” Put the code 12 above where it says Your Code to direct the money to the DFL. It will go into a pool to be distributed to your DFL candidates in 2022. If you are filing a joint return, your spouse can also designate $5 for the DFL pool in that section. It’s a great way to help DFL candidates without costing you anything and keeps candidates from having to depend on big money donors.
DONATE TO SENATE DISTRICT 26 DFL AND YOU MAY GET IT BACK
Not everyone will be able to donate right now, but if you can, we need your help to make the DFL a bigger presence in Rochester. We have a year-round office, which is expensive, but is crucial in a battleground area like Rochester. While one-time donations are welcome, we especially need monthly donations. We don’t get money from the national Democratic Party. The state DFL only contributes $500 a month, less than 1/3 of our rent. We rely on our local supporters to keep us going and to get the DFL message out. We need the money and you want an active DFL. If you give, there will still be an office for DFL events and meetings when those are possible again, DFL participation in events and parades that require entry fees, technology that makes the DFL work better, and outreach into underrepresented communities. Donate to Senate District 26 DFL and you can get up to $50/person or $100 per married couple back from the state of Minnesota if you are eligible to vote in Minnesota. You can make a refundable donation in 2021 even if you are eligible for (or already received) a refund for a 2020 donation. Do it now. Make your donation via ActBlue (https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/senate-district-26-dfl-party-1?refcode=sd2). If you would rather write a check, please make it payable to Senate District 26 DFL and send it to:
P.O. Box 9044
Rochester, MN 55903-9044
After you send us a donation, we’ll send you a receipt. Send the receipt and the form needed to claim the reimbursement (https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/media/59866) to
Minnesota Revenue Political Contribution Refund
St. Paul, MN 55146-1800.
File a claim and you’ll get a check back in a few weeks.
If you send a check, please include whether you are retired, self-employed or employed. If employed, include the name of your employer and your job title. The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board requires us to collect that information. If you use Act Blue, the appropriate information is collected.
ROCHESTER DFL OFFICE
The office, at 1500 1st Ave, Suite A, in Rochester, was open regularly before the election. However, since the election is over and we have had too many COVID cases in the area, we have canceled scheduled office hours for now. We will be monitoring telephone messages regularly. If you have a question or concern, call us at 507-536-9785 and we will get back to you.
SD26mn.dfl@gmail.com AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
This is a monthly newsletter. However, events often happen on short notice, so we may not be able to include them in the newsletter. Check our website and Facebook pages for the latest news.
Official communications come from SD DFL (though the full address is above). Watch for them.
We tweet from @sd26dfl and have a website at www.senatedistrict26dfl.com
We have a closed Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/144866495637545/
We share an open Facebook page with Olmsted-25 DFL and Senate District 25 at
https://www.facebook.com/sd26sd25olm25/?fref=ts
Our Instagram account is at dflsenatedistrict26.
Our office is unstaffed for now because of the pandemic but you can leave a message at 507-536-9785. We are monitoring the messages.
The Minnesota DFL has a new website at www.dfl.org. If you go there, click on the I am a … and choose Voter, you can enter your address and find out how your DFL elected officials are. If you click on Click here to join in the Senate District 26 box, it will take you to a secondary website that is currently out-of-date, but should be synchronized with our primary website soon
The 1st Congressional District DFL also has a new website at https://www.dflcd1.org/
