Tim Pawlenty

Both right wing bloggers and MinnPost's Gerry Anderson are dead wrong. GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty is not the biggest loser in this week's Minnesota caucuses. When John McCain picks his vice presidential candidate, caucus results won't be part of the conversation. Pawlenty didn't invest much, if any, of his political capital in GOP circles to turn out for McCain because of that fact. Now that the GOP has picked McCain, the only salient factor is the Electoral College.

The Electoral College calculation is pretty simple:  What potential vice presidential candidate shows promise in helping deliver the 270 or more votes needed to win the presidency? For Pawlenty, that calculation could shake out in his favor in two not necessarily mutually exclusive ways. First, in 2004, Karl Rove and the rest of the George Bush team viewed the Electoral College votes as a block, "Minnewissowa" [Minnesota (10), Wisconsin (10) and Iowa (7).] Minnewissowa didn't actually work that well in 2004, with John Kerry prevailing in both Minnesota and Wisconsin, and Bush winning Iowa, so perhaps the McCain team won't work the Midwest trifecta state angle by choosing a popular Midwest governor like Pawlenty.

If there's no clear vice presidential candidate who can be expected to deliver Electoral College votes that McCain can't deliver on his own, then the choice becomes who has the broadest appeal to voters. And who can add depth and breadth to the ticket. Here's where Pawlenty shines: Youth (in contrast to McCain), smart and articulate, solid conservative record, with some cuts to the middle (Pawlenty on climate change) and no personal baggage.

Working against Pawlenty is that it's tough to imagine a scenario where both Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee don't heavily lobby the McCainiacs to be the vice presidential candidate. Romney getting out early after this week's results bodes particularly well for Romney.

Finally, state DFLers' obsession with bashing Pawlenty as a vice presidential contender strikes me as bizarre, if not childish. Witness this snarky, mean-spirited memo from the "Minnesota DFL Party" to "Media, Interested Parties."

I've written before how vested the Star Tribune has become in trying to win a Pulitzer or two from the paper's coverage of the I-35W bridge collapse. To summarize, bridge collapse coverage is perhaps the only shot the current generation of editors and reporters at the paper will have at vying for a Pulitzer. It's unlikely (God willing) that our state will ever again suffer such a freak tragedy in public infrastructure where 13 lives were lost. The paper, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the collapse, did extraordinary work under the leadership of then-managing editor Scott Gillespie, who directed the Star Tribune to "flood the zone" in its coverage.

At first blush, winning a Pulitzer would seem to be good not only for Minnesota's largest newspaper (and thus our state's de facto paper of record) but also for Minnesotans' collective civic pride. But not for Minnesota Republicans, particularly those serving in Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Administration, like MnDOT Commissioner Carol Molnau and her top staff. As I've also written before, some reporters at the paper have crossed civil lines in trying to find what is tried-and-true Pulitzer Prize clinching material: Government malfeasance or neglect. To date, Star Tribune reporters have yet to find a MnDOT Deep Throat or damning conduct in the gazillion documents they've acquired in dozens of Minnesota Data Practices Act requests.

But harassing MnDOT employees is not the only objection MnDOT has to the Star Tribune's bridge collapse coverage. The Department maintains that the Star Tribune has been playing fast and loose with lots of facts in many of its stories. So, MnDOT has been keeping a file documenting every fact that it deems the Star Tribune has gotten wrong. My sources tell me the file has become inches high...and that MnDOT plans to make sure the Pulitzer Prize Board receives it.

I asked PIM staffer Dan Feidt to call the Pulitzer Prize office at Columbia University. He was told that there isn't any formal mechanism for challenges against a Pulitzer candidate submission, but the Pulitzer committee asks the newspapers to include challenges and complaints about their coverage with the exhibits they submit to be considered for prizes. The unidentified Pulitzer staffer said, "That's part of our rules, and challenges are intended to be presented to the judges alongside the offered articles."

The operative language in the Pulitzer Prize submission forms reads: "Any significant challenge to the honesty, accuracy or fairness of an entry, such as published letters, corrections, retractions, as well as responses by the newspaper, should be included in the submission." [Emphasis mine.]

One reasonable interpretation of this requirement would seem to preclude the Star Tribune from having to submit the MnDOT "error" file. We trust MnDOT will send that file directly to the Pulitzer Board, the members of which determine the recipients of the prizes.

Since I first wrote this story for last week's PIM Weekly Report, MnDOT apparently has decided to make sure the Star Tribune Pulitzer prize submission includes the Department's objections. Yesterday, the Star Tribune published a commentary piece by MnDOT Assistant Commissioner Bob McFarlin, the "Star Tribune served readers poorly with MnDOT series," in which McFarlin writes that the paper has been "parsimonious with the complete facts."

There's another interesting wrinkle for the Star Tribune in next year's Pulitzer awards. Former Star Tribune editor, now Miami Herald executive editor Anders Gyllenhaal, still sits on the Pulitzer Board, and will be voting on the prizes. Current Star Tribune editor Nancy Barnes was first hired for a lesser job at the paper by Gyllenhaal when he was editor.

[Note on the Pulitzer links: There is only one link for the whole site.]

"Lobbying" campaigns against Pulitzer Prize awards, by the way, are not unprecedented. A few examples are here, here and here.

The number one topic of speculation on everyone's mind this week is whether Lt. Gov. and MnDOT Commissioner Carol Molnau should resign.

First, my reasoning. Second, my conclusion.

As I've written before, underfunding transportation infrastructure maintenance has been a decades-long problem, with no political party or person--including Molnau--to blame. Even if transportation infrastructure had been better funded over time, the I-35W Bridge was not on any of the "must do now" lists. The most recent news reports indicate the inspections problem may lie with the federal and the state government.

Never mind.

GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been quite clear that, in the aftermath of the bridge collapse, the transportation funding world changed. He would now support a gas tax increase as part of an increased transportation funding package. The Governor's communications director, Brian McClung, when talking about the Governor's change of heart on a gas tax increase, said, "[T]hese are extraordinary circumstances. The governor feels we need to come together and work as aggressively as we can to address these issues. He thinks that's the right thing for our state."

Under heated questioning from reporters about her long-time opposition to increasing the gas tax, and whether she would support the Governor, the Star Tribune quotes the following as Molnau's response, "On a gas tax, she said, 'we do need to look for resources we can count on long term.' But in order to solve the problem, she said, 'we would have to raise gas taxes 34 or 35 cents a gallon. I don't think the motoring public can sustain that.'"

While Molnau was absolutely dead correct in this answer, it's an obfuscating answer. In times of political crisis, an obfuscating answer is the wrong answer.

As Transportation Commissioner, Molnau serves at the pleasure of the Governor, who appointed her. That should have been her answer, "I serve at the pleasure of the Governor, he decides the policy and I execute that policy."

And therein lies the problem with what seemed to be such a good idea back in 2002 when Pawlenty appointed his Lt. Gov. to be his Transportation Commissioner, the "one-woman SWAT team at MnDOT." [Lost here is the fact that even then, Pawlenty recognized the decades-long problems at MnDOT.] Molnau's role has always been confused. Pawlenty selected Molnau to be his Lt. Gov. running mate at a time when he was facing a conservative credentials showdown for the GOP gubernatorial endorsement against another impeccably credentialed conservative candidate, Brian Sullivan. Her GOP-endorsing delegate bona fides were unimpeachable: An entire legislative record of the right votes on the social issues and the right votes on the fiscal ones, including no funding for the then-highly controversial light rail transit (LRT) and no increasing the gas tax. And, oh, yes, she wore a skirt, not slacks, and lived in the GOP-vote rich western suburbs while at the same time sporting a legitimate rural resume as a former dairy farmer.

As a legislator, Molnau had her own agenda. On transportation funding, that used to match Pawlenty's. Pawlenty changed his mind, or recognized the need for compromise. On LRT, and now, on increasing the gas tax. Molnau doesn't have the standing to somehow try to hang on to some semblance of staying consistent with her previous legislative record. She's not, in President George Bush's infamous words, "the decider." Pawlenty is.

All of which explains her problem at the Legislature, particularly with key Senate player, transportation Policy & Budget Committee Chair Sen. Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing). Understandably, he has never been sure he's dealing with former legislative adversary former House GOP Transportation Funding Chair Rep. Carol Molnau, a Lt. Gov., or the Governor's chief transportation policy point person.

Over the years, Molnau has been an exemplary public servant. Knows her stuff, smart as hell, heart of gold. All that. Molnau is the right person for one of the two jobs but not both. Combining the two jobs made sense back in the era of historic budget deficits, but not in the new era of the bridge collapse tragedy. The tough public policy debate ahead requires leadership that can be focused and free from political encumbrances.

My conclusion, then, is that Molnau should step down from the MnDOT job.

With everyone's best wishes, a collective fond remembrance of seriously and hilariously rattling former Independent Gov. Jesse Ventura by tapping his shoulder on the TPT's Almanac famous public policy couch, a clear understanding that the bridge collapse was not her fault, and the same clear understanding that life's not fair--and sometimes political life is exponentially unfair.

[The exchange between Molnau and Ventura happened on the Almanac couch, but not on Almanac, the show. The two appeared on a special edition of the now defunct NewsNight Minnesota on March 3, 2000. That night the show was hosted by Almanac co-host Eric Eskola and Almanac political reporter Mary Lahammer, so most people recall thinking the venue was Almanac. NewsNight discussion links are no longer active. However, an excerpt of the exchange lives online in the Almanac: At the Capitol archives. You can find this link by going here and clicking on the show from March 20th. The exchange can be found at the 23 minute mark of the show.]

The bridge collapse--in what's sure to be an excruciatingly painful process--will put the spotlight on what anyone who has worked in Minnesota transportation policy has known for decades: the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is a mess. No one administration or political party is to blame. The Rudy Perpich (DFL) Administration (1982-1990), the Arne Carlson (R) Administration (1990-1998), the Jesse Ventura (I) Administration (1998-2002) and the Tim Pawlenty (R) Administration (2002-to present) have all made the same call. There are other, sexier things to fund rather than existing infrastructure and that's what's happened.

In recent years, "sexy" has meant $25 million in state bonding money for a new Guthrie Theater, located on the Mississippi River a mere several blocks from the collapsed bridge, and a new Twins ballpark. Funded with a .15% sales tax on goods and services in Hennepin County, it will be about half mile as the crow flies on the other side of downtown. Ironically, the ceremonial groundbreaking was scheduled for the night after the collapse but was canceled. And, let's not forget that the city of Minneapolis spent $3 million to move the Shubert Theater a few blocks (which stands vacant on Hennepin Avenue where it waits for state bonding money).

Those who have griped about the lack of adequately funding existing road and bridge infrastructure maintenance over the years, mainly the highway contractors, their subcontractors and the unions, never got very far because their interests seemed so self-serving. There was no traction among the general public, who thought new new theaters and stadiums were sexier than roads and bridges, too.

MnDOT has well-documented needs without the means to pay for them. Nationally, funding infrastructure needs has suffered the same "not sexy" problem, along with economics 101, funding guns v. butter. In Minnesota, there are no guns to pay for, but there are people funding needs that weren't in most of the government budgets of the 20th century. There was no "E" for early in the current E-12 education system and funding formulas (the funding of which consumes about half the state's current budget). There was no sense that government needed to provide health insurance for myriad categories of people.

Back to the Pawlenty Administration. There's added transportation funding rancor there that exceeds not just raising the gas tax. When Pawlenty first named Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau to be his Transportation Commissioner, hopes in the transportation community were high. As a legislator, Molnau chaired a transportation funding committee in the House. She "got" the MnDOT mess. The expectation was that she would straighten it out. She did not, for reasons I simply don't know but surmise to be the ones outlined above--no strong political direction to do the dirty work.

Finally, while on the subject of Minnesota transportation commissioners, one of the lowlights this past week was former Jesse Ventura Administration Commissioner of Transportation Elwyn Tinklenberg. Mere hours after the bridge went down, he was being interviewed on KARE-11 TV (our local NBC affiliate) standing in front of the dark Capitol building blathering (there is no better word) about MnDOT's "constant deterioration of the budget, constant layoffs, failure to replace people," etc. Most of what he said was not only not true, but it was crass in the immediate aftermath of the bridge falling down. And for the record, the collective opinion on Tinklenberg in the transporation job was much worse than Molnau's.

Shame on the Star Tribune’s Nick Coleman and the rest of the left who are laying the blame for the tragic collapse of the I-35W bridge on GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

We don’t even know the number--let alone the names--of people killed. Doesn’t matter to Coleman and his ilk. Take any shot to smear a Republican.

Writes Coleman:

For half a dozen years, the motto of state government and particularly that of Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been No New Taxes. It's been popular with a lot of voters and it has mostly prevailed. So much so that Pawlenty vetoed a 5-cent gas tax increase - the first in 20 years - last spring and millions were lost that might have gone to road repair. And yes, it would have fallen even if the gas tax had gone through, because we are years behind a dangerous curve when it comes to the replacement of infrastructure that everyone but wingnuts in coonskin caps agree is one of the basic duties of government.

"No New Taxes" has nothing to do with what happened, yesterday.

A few facts for Coleman. In general, the major bridges the federal government has built become the responsibility of states to maintain, and states routinely seek and are granted federal funding to help with the maintenance. The maintenance work being done on the I-35W bridge by Progressive Contractors, Inc., out of St. Michael, Minnesota, was on the list of projects of the 2007-2009 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) list. Right there on page 116 of the report is the I-35W bridge. The $3.3 million price tag was being paid mostly by the federal government ($2.97 million) and not the state ($330,000).

The National Bridge Inventory conducted by the federal government in 2003 reported that the bridge had a "sufficiency" rating of 50% on a scale of 120. That’s not great, but that’s where about 80,000 of the country’s bridges stand. The significant finding of that Inventory, however, was that structurally, the bridge "meets minimum tolerable limits to be left in place as-is."

The federal government didn’t flag structural issues; neither did MnDOT.

Pawlenty could have raised the gas tax $50 a gallon and nothing would have happened. The structural condition of the bridge was not on anyone’s radar screen. At this point, that appears to be the real issue: All levels of government may have failed us.

But, specifically, Pawlenty and his administration have not. Those who blame Pawlenty and the Republicans for not raising the state’s gas tax since 1988 may want to review their legislative history. From 1988-1996, the Democrats controlled both houses of the state legislature. Transportation funding increase efforts stalemated among Democrats because urban DFLers wanted a permanent funding source for transit (the state gas tax is constitutionally dedicated to roads).

From 1996-2006, the Republicans controlled the House and the Democrats held the Senate. To be sure, "no new taxes" prevailed during those years. The last several years, the Legislature has sent funding increase packages that have been too rich in tax increases. The last one included a ten-cent gas tax increase along with an option by local governments--not the people--to raise the sales tax for transit.

These weren’t realistic packages.They were meant to embarrass the Governor.

Nevertheless, no matter how much money government has, it can’t fix a bridge that’s not on a list of bridges that need fixing.

For the record, in the 1990s, I did some work for the state’s highway construction companies. We lobbied to increase the gas tax by a nickel, and obviously, we lost. I believe the state does need to raise the gas tax (I happen to like to drive). If Democrats were serious about increasing transportation funding and not political grandstanding, they would send Pawlenty a a simple nickel increase bill. Bet he’d sign it…even before this tragedy.

Finally, thoughts and prayers to everyone at Progressive Contractors (P.C.I.). Owner Mike McGray runs a fine construction business, and from all we know at this point, it appears he lost at least one worker.

Some additional material: The I-35W bridge was completed in 1967. Many photos taken by the public have been posted on the Flickr service tagged under 'bridge collapse'. The new Minnesota 2020 thinktank quickly released a report by longtime Strib reporter Conrad deFiebre (who covered transportation) entitled "451 Minnesota Bridges 'Functionally Obsolete'."

In this issue: Food For Thought... Or Political Action?; DFL Field in The Sixth; Franken Taps Hollywood... And The Strib; More Minnesota Hoopla; Coleman V. Galloway II?; Bits and Pieces; Lobbyist Watch.

One of Barack Obama's greatest strengths is his ability to make a political speech without saying much of anything specific at all. Listeners can then project their own specifics onto Obama's audaciously hopeful outline. It's a brilliant formula.

But one thing Obama has been specific on is merit pay for teachers. Several weeks ago at the National Education Association's meeting in Philadelphia, Obama was actually boo'ed by teachers when he mentioned the Minnesota program created by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Look for the Minnesota program, dubbed "Q Comp" (Quality Compensation), to become an important part of the national education policy conversation.

The New York Times profiled the Minnesota program here.

Forbes published the 2007 Best States for Business rankings, today.

Minnesota moved up from 14th place in 2006 to 10th in 2007. That's terrific news for all of us and in particular, for GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty (who's off in NYC today trolling for GOP 2008 convention contributions).

Perhaps most significant to the Minnesota political psyche is our "quality of life" ranking: We're number 1!

Earlier this month, Forbes ran a story about The Best and the Worst States to Get Sued In. These rankings are based on polling done by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. Minnesota rates as the second best legal environment for business in 2007. "Minnesota ... is now viewed more favorably by business since Lori Swanson replaced Michael Hatch as attorney general in early 2006."

Hmmmm.

In this issue: PIM In China; Business Is Back, But Which Way Will It Cut? Lourey's Announcement; Will Gambling Be Back? What Happens If Zimmerman Isn't Indicted? Bits & Pieces

• Gov. Tim Pawlenty and most of the other delegations moved on to Hong Kong last night, but I decided to stay on with the Ag. Delegation in Shanghai. Smart move, given their plane was delayed several hours to accommodate military moves in Hong Kong airspace (most likely to prep for former Pres. George H.W. Bush, who is visiting.
• As most of our readers know, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is leading that state's delegation on a trip very similar to ours with one exception. Last night Schwarzenegger led the Californians to the Shanghai Science Museum for a special screening of the latest Harry Potter movie.
• Target's vice president of government affairs, Nate Garvis, is traveling with the California delegation and he reports that it's a hoot. Garvis is the guest of Maersk Sealand, which ships containers worldwide. Target is now Maersk's second biggest customer.
• The Ag delegation had its final dinner last night. They hosted a turkey dinner for about 70 Chinese. Jennie O (now owned by Hormel) supplied the birds. That delegation is flying back today.
• Your publisher will take a mini-vacation starting tomorrow in Hong Kong. Some travelers make hotel choices based on location and amenities. Not your publisher. She makes choices based on culturally important things like where James Bond movies have been filmed.
• However, this won't be the last report. French Meadow Bakery founder and organic guru extraordinaire Lynn Gordon carefully documented the Shanghai Wal-Mart shopping experience.

We'll post her photos in the next few days. One highlight? To pick the best frog from a tank, the Chinese plunge their hands into the water and squeeze the frogs like melons.

From Minnesota Farms to Chinese Fish

Today's highlight was touring the soybean processing plant owned by Shanghai Dongchen Grain & Oil Company. Located in Shanghai on the Hang Pu River, it is one of the largest soybean processing plants in China.

Soybeans are shipped in bulk from either the west mainland coast of the U.S. (where many Minnesota beans are shipped) or from South America in boats like these:

It takes about 18 days for a boat to get from the U.S. to Shanghai, and 48 days from Brazil to Shanghai. It's hard to imagine what life is like for these men who work the boats.

To get the beans out of the boats, these machines suck up the beans from the boats and a "conveyor suction thing" moves them into the plant.

But some beans remain in the boat and have to be swept out by hand.

First stop in the plant for the beans is this big vat.

The beans will be separated into oil (which will be sent to a refinery at another location, lecithin (used in chocolate, other confections and pharmaceuticals) and meal for food and feed. Increasingly soybean meal is used in Chinese aquaculture. So, next time you pass a soybean field in Fairmont or Morris, think about how some of those beans will end up in Chinese fish.

Here are some soy flakes that have just been processed in the big vats.

The entire processing operation is run by this computer and three men.

The soybean meal is bagged by machine and dropped by conveyor belt where it is stacked by hand. Each bag weighs about 135 pounds.

I couldn't help but marvel at the worker who adjusts the bags as they come out of the shoot. A bag falls every 5 seconds. That's what this guy does for a living, and he makes somewhere between $100 and $120 a month to do the work.

Other workers lift the bags onto these carts and place them on the conveyor belt on the left, which drops the bags into a boat or onto a truck.

More than one Minnesota farm boy (now man) commented on how this is why the Chinese are so thin. They spend their lives lifting those heavy bags. This operation is different than in the U.S., where the meal is also shipped in bulk. The Chinese need to bag the meal because their railroad and road infrastructure cannot support bulk transfer, and the average size of a Chinese farm is small and they buy feed in the smaller bag quantities.

After the tour, we met around this conference room.

The Chinese man standing up on the left had a great sense of humor. He told us that Minnesota soybeans are the best--although when the Brazilians are here, he says he tells them South American beans are the best. Also, worth noting, and maybe something only women pick up on. Every business meeting I attended was similarly structured: around a table like this and always with fresh flowers in the middle.

Some soybean facts. Last year the U.S. sold China a record 11 million bushels of beans. They are the number one imported crop for the Chinese. Why? The Chinese are eating more meat and farm-raised fish and need the feed. Incredibly, the Chinese expect to double the number of beans they import in the next two years. For those interested in the organic versus genetically modified organism (GMO) controversy, all the beans the Chinese process at this plant are GMO beans.

At the end of the meeting, as always, there was the exchange of gifts. One of Minnesota's finest public servants, Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson prepares the Minnesota gifts (nice Dept. of Ag. pens). The Chinese gave us logo'ed baseball caps and keychains.

This isn't a great photo but the expression on the man's face in the middle (he was a big shot at the company) and the woman sitting next to him, well, they seem to say it all, "We are so glad to be doing business with you and we're glad you're glad you're doing business with us. It's good for all of us. You grow more beans. We'll process more beans."

God bless the 21^st century.

Chinese Cultural Snippets

As mentioned in other reports, patent protection is a huge problem in China. But usually it's very easy to spot the fakes. For example on this bottle of "Coca Cola,"

...is this figure on the back:

Not exactly the family image the real Coca Cola Company wants to convey.

Here is the Chinese version of a fly-catcher.

One of the reasons Shanghai is so lovely is that there are so many parks

And who would believe windowboxes on hanging freeways?