May 22, 2009 Newsletter

In this issue:

Oberstar Praises Obama's First 100 Days

Stimulus Spotlight: Record Road Construction and Unemployment Assistance

Governor's Race 2010: Mark Dayton

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Oberstar Praises Obama's First 100 Days

Congressman Oberstar is praising President Obama’s first 100 days in office, saying his presidency is so far off to “an extraordinary start on both domestic and international fronts” in a recent interview.

Congressman Oberstar gave the president good reviews on his so-far brief tenure.

“On the international front, he has moved decisively to establish America’s moral authority in the world community,” Congressman Oberstar said, also pointing to Obama’s work towards strengthening U.S. ties with NATO.

Obama has also charted a course to get American troops out of Iraq, addressed the situation in Afghanistan, and begun the process of working towards a solution with problem between Israelis and Palestinians, Oberstar said.

Speaking on domestic issues, Oberstar praised then President-Elect Obama’s transition team, including his designates for Treasury, Office of Management and Budget, and Council of Economic Advisers, for supporting Congress in drafting a recovery bill last December and January before they legally took office on January 20th.

“He did not flinch from the task. He didn’t say ‘we have to wait until January 20th.’ He moved vigorously and forthright, with full effort on the stimulus initiative. It’s now enacted, contracts have been awarded, [and] people are working,” Oberstar said. “That, in and of itself, is an extraordinary accomplishment.”

Other accomplishments so far include an expansion to the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a $2,500 tax credit to help offset the cost of tuition for those seeking a college education, estimated by the Treasury to save five million families $9 billion, a framework for automobile industry recovery, including a $2 billion in the recovery package for advanced battery systems, and an investment in health care reform to help implement an electronic medical record system.

Oberstar also praised the personal qualities of Obama, saying he has “the sweep of intellect, the decisiveness of character, and the ability to communicate not only to the American public but to publics all across the world his purpose in office, and we probably haven’t seen that since Franklin Roosevelt.”

“He has shown his ability to intellectually grasp the challenges at hand, think through the options, choose a course of action, and then [shown] the temperament to take that course of action forwards, and the ability to explain that course of action to the public,” Oberstar said.

You can watch the full interview here.

Stimulus Spotlight: Record Road Construction and Unemployment Assistance

As part of our ongoing series on the Economic Recovery (Stimulus) Package, each month we’re bringing you stories of how the legislation is affecting the economy in Northeast Minnesota. Last month, we detailed the expansion to the Duluth International Airport. You can read that story here.

This month: record road construction and stimulus funds to unemployed Minnesota workers.

Record Road Construction in Northeast Minnesota
Motorists will see record levels of road construction across Northeast Minnesota this summer as stimulus funds continue funding infrastructure projects, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MN/DOT). “We are creating jobs and making critical investments in our roads and bridges,” said Oberstar.

MN/DOT released a list of construction projects which range from an $18 million resurfacing of Highway 53 from Independence to Highway 194 and a $5 million project to add new pavement, turn lanes, and bypass lanes to Highway 65 in McGregor.

“An infusion of $37 million in recovery act funding made it possible to start work on many projects that otherwise would have stayed on the drawing board. These are good jobs that pay a living wage and provide benefits - that is why we passed the recovery act,” said Oberstar.

Stimulus Funds Help Unemployed Minnesota Workers
In part of the purpose of the Economic Stimulus Package to assist unemployed workers, Minnesota will receive $130 million to help make unemployment payments to laid-off workers. In all, $7 billion was appropriated to the U.S. Department of Labor for unemployment assistance to the states.

“We are seeing layoffs across Northeast Minnesota; in Kanabec County the unemployment rate is 17.3 percent,” said Congressman Oberstar. “Steelworkers who are losing their jobs on the Iron Range did not cause this economic downturn, neither did the loggers, sales clerks, car dealership employees across Minnesota. They deserve a helping hand during tough times.”

Oberstar added that unemployment funds have been shown to have a beneficial effect on the larger economy. “People use these benefits to buy gas, groceries, pay mortgages and educate their children.  Those are the activities that keep us from sliding into a deeper recession,” Oberstar said.

Governor's Race 2010

Today, the Oberstar Democracy project is beginning a series on candidates for Minnesota’s 2010 gubernatorial race. Each month, we will feature one of the gubernatorial candidates so our readers better understand the issues and Governor-hopefuls. First in our list, in no particular order, is Mark Dayton.

Mark Dayton
Lives in: Minneapolis
Previous political experience: U.S. Senator, Minnesota State Auditor, Commissioner of the expanded Department of Energy and Economic Development of Minnesota.

Mark Dayton has formally declared his candidacy for Governor of Minnesota in the November 2010 election. Previously, he served as Minnesota’s 34th United States Senator. 

In the Senate, Mark was a member of the Armed Services, Agriculture, and Homeland Security Committees. In October 2002, he was one of 23 Senators to vote against the Iraq War Resolution. He was a strong critic of the Bush Administration’s failed policies domestically and internationally. He voted against both Bush tax cuts for unfairly benefiting the wealthiest Americans, and against Republican budgets that turned President Clinton’s surpluses into record high deficits.

Mark also championed the cause of increased federal funding for special education, although his seven amendments to fulfill the federal government’s thirty-year promise were unsuccessful. He passed a “Taste of Their Own Medicine” requirement that Members of Congress’ prescription drug benefits could not exceed those they voted for senior citizens under Medicare. His amendment, however, was discarded in conference committee.

While in the Senate, Mark kept his campaign promise and donated his entire Senate salary to the Minnesota Senior Federation. This helped the Senior Federation to take busloads of senior citizens to Canada, where they could buy cheaper prescription medicines. He also established a “Health Care Help-line,” which helped thousands of Minnesotans receive the health care their doctors had prescribed or to receive the proper reimbursements from insurance companies for the treatments they had already received.

Mark did not seek re-election and left office in January 2007. Since leaving office, he co-chaired Hillary Clinton’s Minnesota Presidential Campaign and worked on behalf of DFL candidates statewide.

Mark was born in Minneapolis on January 26, 1947, and raised in Minnesota. He graduated from Blake School, where he was president of the student council and an all-state hockey goalie. In 1969, he graduated, cum laude, from Yale University, where he also played varsity hockey.

After college, Mark taught ninth grade science in a public school on the Lower East Side of New York City. He worked as a runaway youth counselor and then the chief financial officer for a Boston social service agency. During those years, he actively opposed the Viet Nam War, for which he was the only Minnesotan named to Richard Nixon’s infamous “Enemies List.”

In 1975, Mark became a legislative assistant to Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale, and he worked on the 1976 Carter-Mondale presidential campaign. Afterward, he joined the staff of Governor Rudy Perpich, who appointed him Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Economic Development in 1978.

In 1982, Mark was the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. He defeated former Senator Eugene McCarthy in the primary, but lost the general election to incumbent Senator David Durenberger.  He then joined Governor Perpich’s second administration, where he served as Commissioner of the expanded Department of Energy and Economic Development.  In 1990, he was elected the Minnesota State Auditor. 

Mark is the proud father of two sons: Eric, age 28, and Andrew, age 25.  He lives in Minneapolis with his two German shepherd dogs: Mesabi and Dakota.

Visit www.markdayton.org for more information.

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