Almanac: At the Capitol

Photo: The UpTake

In an interview with radio host Michael Savage on Thursday — where Savage insinuated that Obama is a Muslim and Michele Obama is fat — Rep. Michele Bachmann said that if the health care reform vote happens on Sunday Democrats will “profane the Sabbath.” She also incorrectly states that health reform would force taxpayers to pay for abortions.

“For people who are Christians this is the Easter season called Lent and on Sunday, on the Sabbath, they’re going to force pro-life democrats to take a vote on the Sabbath to force all Americans to pay for other people’s abortions against their will and violate their moral conscience,” she said. “They are going to profane the Sabbath.”

According to a fact-check by MSNBC:

the Senate bill explicitly ensures that Americans who receive federal subsidies under the reform plan must pay separately for abortion coverage. Here’s pages 2,074-2,075: “In the case of a plan to which sub paragraph (A) applies, the issuer of the plan shall collect from each enrollee in the plan (without regard to the enrollee’s age, sex, or family status) a separate payment” that “may not estimate such a cost at less than $1 per enrollee, per month.”
…
states can choose NOT to offer abortion coverage in the health exchange. Page 2,069: “A State may elect to prohibit abortion coverage in qualified health plans offered through an Exchange in such State is such State enacts a law to provide for such prohibition.” And those states that do not prohibit abortion coverage must provide a choice of health plans on the exchange that include abortion coverage and don’t include abortion.

Representatives from Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s administration defended the governor’s decision to pay his faith-based office coordinator out of a license plate fund for veterans during a legislative hearing on the issue on Thursday. But legislators criticized Pawlenty’s use of inter-agency agreements to pay his staff — the cost of which has jumped from $37,000 under Gov. Jesse Ventura in 1999 to $702,000 under Pawlenty in 2010.

“It’s a questionable trend when we are telling everyone else they need to tighten their belts and live within their means,” Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, said at the hearing.

Michael Pugliese, the commissioner of Veterans Affairs, said Pawlenty’s faith-based office coordinator, Lee Buckley, did legitimate outreach to veterans for the $30,000 the governor pulled out of the “Support Our Troops” license plate program.

State Fiscal Analyst Kevin Lundeen said that Pawlenty’s budget was difficult to track at times because of all the inter-agency payments.

The Minnesota Progressive Project attended the hearing and has a copy of the breakdown of how Pawlenty is using money from state agencies to fill gaps in his office’s budget:

Administration: $72,000
Agriculture: $20,000
Commerce: $35,000
Corrections: $30,000
Education: $30,000
DEED: $45,000
OET: $10,000
Health: $32,500
Higher Education: $20,000
MN Housing Finance: $12,000
Human Services: $137,500
Labor & Industry: $20,000
Metropolitan Council: $27,500
Military Affairs: $7,000
MMB: $19,000
DNR: $26,500
Pollution Control: $24,000
Public Safety: $26,500
Revenue: $19,000
Transportation: $51,500
Veterans Affairs: $37,000
TOTAL – ALL AGENCIES: $702,000

Sen. Al Franken met on Thursday with leaders from several of Minnesota LGBT advocacy organizations, who “applauded” Franken’s work on LGBT issues, including his work towards repealing the military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian servicemembers and his support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Student Non-Discrimination Act.

Sixteen leaders from a diverse group of Minnesota providers who work with the LGBT community met with Franken, including PFund, Avenues for Homeless Youth, Bisexual Empowerment Conference, Family and Children’s Service, Minnesota GLBTA Campus Alliance, OutFront Minnesota, Rainbow Health Initiative and Rainbow Rumpus.

“He left the meeting more aware of the great and needed work of the organizations present,” said Bethany Snyder, Franken’s director of field operations in a press release from PFund. “He is energized to continue to work hard for the LGBT community.”

“I appreciated the opportunity to share our work with Senator Franken,” said Joan Higinbotham, board member for Rainbow Rumpus, a Minneapolis-based publication for children of LGBT parents. “The conversation was valuable for us as well as the senator.”

Greg Grinley, executive director of PFund, a foundation that funds LGBT projects around the Midwest, said, “We are incredibly grateful to Sen. Franken for his support and for taking time to hear about the critical issues our grantees are working on.”

Rep. James Oberstar has gone from a ‘no’ vote to an ‘undecided’ vote to a ‘likely’ vote on health care reform, but according to the Star Tribune, he’s still not certain.

Oberstar has joined with Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., in the past in opposing health care reform that didn’t absolutely ban abortion. Last week, Oberstar announced he was undecided on his vote on the reform bill. On Monday, he said he wouldn’t let a “single-issue” like abortion get in the way of his vote and said he’s likely to vote for the bill. Now, Oberstar is not “100 percent” behind the bill.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty sent a letter (pdf) to Minnesota’s congressional delegates on Thursday urging them to vote against the health reform legislation currently pending in Congress. He praised Minnesota’s health care system and criticized the Democratic plan.

“As the US House of Representatives prepares to vote on health care reform, I write to express my significant concerns with the approach being taken by the Democratic congressional leadership and urge you to vote against the current proposal,” Pawlenty wrote. “I am hopeful that the U.S. House will defeat the current bloated, expensive, government-centric health care proposal and instead work in a truly bipartisan manner to enact much needed heath care reforms that are market-driven, patient-centered, and quality-focused.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann has been on a media blitz this week trying to drum up opposition to health care reform. In the last 7 days, she has appeared on Bill Bennett, Matt Lewis, Chris Baker and held two “kill the bill” rallies — one in Minnesota and one in Washington. She also appeared on Fox News’ Red Eye on Tuesday; immediately after that she was a guest on the Family Research Council’s anti-health care reform webcast. And on Thursday, she appeared in a video interview with NewsMax. In a number of these appearances, Bachmann said — incorrectly — that Congress has never used “deem and pass” or the “Slaughter rule” in history.

“They use the Slaughter rule in the House, something that hasn’t been done before,” Bachmann told NewsMax’s Ronald Kessler.

And on Red Eye, Bachmann told the host, “It does great violence to the Constitution. We call it the ’slaughter the House rule.’ It’s never been done before in the history of the Congress.”

Bachmann was referring to the “deem and pass” rule that Democrats say they will use to pass health care reform. According to Roll Call, the rule has been used extensively by both parties.

Under Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) there were 40, 42 and 30 self-executing rules in the 106th, 107th and 108th Congresses (22 percent, 37 percent and 22 percent, respectively). Thus far in the 109th Congress, self-executing rules make up about 16 percent of all rules.”

Later in the day on Tuesday, Bachmann invoked the Bible in opposing health care reform during the Family Research Council webcast.

“What can people do?” FRC president Perkins asked.

“It’s like the Bible says,” Bachmann responded, “‘the men of Issachar understood the times, and knew what to do.”

She continued, “This is insane to vote for this bill for financial reasons, for moral reasons, for the benefit of senior cititzens you vote ‘no.’ On any number of fronts there is no reason to vote for this bill.”

I thought yesterday’s NRCC hit on Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) for the “coincidence” of voting for health care reform after his wife got to appear at a White House event promoting vegetables was sort of silly. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) did not. From her appearance on Bill Bennett’s radio show today:

BACHMANN: [T]o think what they’re flipping for. You know, Dennis Kucinich, a ride on Air Force One.

BENNETT: Yeah.

BACHMANN: And apparently the President also gave him, Dennis Kucinich’s wife and to be able to work with Michelle Obama on the next effort, which is if you eat vegan that you’ll lose weight. I think that’s the next, the next platform that Michelle Obama’s going to have. And what I understood yesterday is that Mrs. Kucinich will work together with Mrs. Obama on that effort.

BENNETT: It’s time to get the Cattleman’s Association back there.

BACHMANN: Oh my gosh, if this is what they’re selling out votes for on their side, they’re a bunch of weak sisters over there.

Can Bachmann really believe this, though? Wouldn’t the more explicable reason be that Kucinich realizes a sneaky plot to nationalize health care when he sees one? I think this is part of the pattern I’ve seen with Bachmann this week, focusing on “backroom deals” and “arm-twisting,” even when, as in this case, the allegation is awfully hard to take seriously.

In an interview with Matt Lewis, Rep. Michele Bachmann moves Ken Cuccinelli’s ball down the field, saying “it won’t even be close on how unconstitutionalized” it is to use a “deem and pass” solution for health care reform.

“Something like taking over one-sixth of the American economy without voting on it?” Bachmann asked. “You can’t do that. The Constitution is clear — Article, Section 7, Clause II? A bill being first presented to the president for his signature… you simply cannot do that. Any sixth grader could understand that in his history class at school. This is something the Supreme Court will absolutely overturn.”

Following Wednesday’s news that Rep. James Oberstar will be voting for the health care reform bill before Congress, the progressive group Catholics United is airing TV commercials praising the Minnesota Democrat. The spots, which began airing in Minnesota on Wednesday, is part of a “broader national campaign to underscore Catholic support for health care reform” just as “as insurance company-backed interests are pulling out the stops to oppose affordable health care for all Minnesotans,” according to a statement by the group.

The spot praises Oberstar, a Catholic, in general terms for helping create jobs for working families, but doesn’t specifically mention health care reform or the controversy over whether elective abortions will be covered under the plan (they won’t).

The commercial, which runs in Duluth in full saturation through Saturday, came out the same day that a letter urging each Congress member to “cast a life-affirming ‘yes’ vote” on health care reform was released by a group of 59,000 Catholic nuns who are involved with running many of the country’s Catholic hospitals. The move is in opposition to the opinion of the Catholic bishops.

KEEP FIGHTING

:30 for TV

Catholics United

As Minnesota weathers this economic storm…who’s standing up for us?

Jim Oberstar.

A champion for working families, he’s led the fight to rebuild our
infrastructure and create new jobs.

He’s stood up for small business… to expand loans and hold down health care
costs, so local companies can hire new workers.

A leader who shares our values.

Tell Oberstar to keep fighting for Minnesota’s families.

Catholics United is responsible for the content of this advertising.

Read the letter sent to each member of Congress by NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby:

Dear Members of Congress:

We write to urge you to cast a life-affirming “yes” vote when the Senate health care bill (H.R. 3590) comes to the floor of the House for a vote as early as this week. We join the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), which represents 1,200 Catholic sponsors, systems, facilities and related organizations, in saying: the time is now for health reform AND the Senate bill is a good way forward.

As the heads of major Catholic women’s religious order in the United States, we represent 59,000 Catholic Sisters in the United States who respond to needs of people in many ways. Among our other ministries we are responsible for running many of our nation’s hospital systems as well as free clinics throughout the country.

We have witnessed firsthand the impact of our national health care crisis, particularly its impact on women, children and people who are poor. We see the toll on families who have delayed seeking care due to a lack of health insurance coverage or lack of funds with which to pay high deductibles and co-pays. We have counseled and prayed with men, women and children who have been denied health care coverage by insurance companies. We have witnessed early and avoidable deaths because of delayed medical treatment.

The health care bill that has been passed by the Senate and that will be voted on by the House will expand coverage to over 30 million uninsured Americans. While it is an imperfect measure, it is a crucial next step in realizing health care for all. It will invest in preventative care. It will bar insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. It will make crucial investments in community health centers that largely serve poor women and children. And despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions. It will uphold longstanding conscience protections and it will make historic new investments – $250 million – in support of pregnant women. This is the REAL pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it.

Congress must act. We are asking every member of our community to contact their congressional representatives this week. In this Lenten time, we have launched nationwide prayer vigils for health care reform. We are praying for those who currently lack health care. We are praying for the nearly 45,000 who will lose their lives this year if Congress fails to act. We are also praying for you and your fellow Members of Congress as you complete your work in the coming days. For us, this health care reform is a faith mandate for life and dignity of all of our people.

We urge you to vote “yes” for life by voting yes for health care reform in H.R. 3590.

Sincerely,

Marlene Weisenbeck, FSPA
LCWR President
Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Joan Chittister, OSB
Co-Chair Global Peace Initiative of Women
Erie, PA

Sr. Mary Persico, IHM
President
Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Scranton, PA

Sr. Susan Hadzima, IHM
Councilor for Missioning and Community Life
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Scranton, PA

Mary Genino (RSHM)
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary
Western American Province.

Nancy Conway CSJ
Congregation Leadership Team
The Congregation of St. Joseph

Debra M. Sciano, SSND
Provincial Leader
Milwaukee Province, School Sisters of Notre Dame

Josephine Gaugier, OP
Adrian Dominican Sisters
Holy Rosary Mission Chapter Prioress
Adrian, MI

Kathleen Nolan, OP
Adrian Dominican Sisters
Office of the General Council

Marlene Weisenbeck, FSPA
President
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
La Crosse, WI

Corinne Weiss
Servants of Jesus Leadership Team
Saginaw MI

Adrian Dover OP
Prioress
Dominican Sisters of Houston, Texas

Rose Mary Dowling, FSM
President
Franciscan Sisters of Mary

Leadership Team
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(from Mary Martens, BVM, Administrative Assistant)

Beatrice Haines, OLVM
President, Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters
Huntington IN

Joan Saalfeld, SNJM, Provincial
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
U.S.-Ontario Province

Jo’Ann De Quattro, SNJM
Sisters of the Holy Names
U.S.-Ontario Province Leadership Team

Sharon Simon, OP
President
Racine Dominicans

Maryann A. McMahon, O.P.
Vice President
Dominican Sisters of Racine, WI

Agnes Johnson, OP
Vice President
Racine Dominicans

Pat Mulcahey, OP
Prioress of Sinsinawa Dominicans

Pam Chiesa, PBVM
President
Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

Patricia Anne Cloherty, PBVM
Leadership Team, Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

Gloria Inés Loya
Leadership Team
Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

Gloria Marie Jones, OP
Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose
Congregational Prioress and Council

Mary Litell
Provincial Councilor
Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity St. Francis Province

Theresa Sandok, OSM
Servants of Mary (Servite Sisters)
Ladysmith, Wisconsin

Sr Claire Graham SSS
General Director
Sisters of Social Service
Encino CA

Margaret Byrne CSJP – Congregation Leader
Teresa Donohue CSJP – Assistant Congregation Leader
Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

Sr. Carmelita Latiolais, S.E.C.
Sisters of the Eucharistic Covenant

Joan Mumaw, IHM – Vice President
On behalf of the Leadership Council
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Monroe, Michigan

Sister Clare of Assisi Pierre, SSF
Sisters of the Holy Family
New Orleans, LA

Sister Marla Monahan, SND
Provincial
Sisters of Notre Dame
(St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, KY
and St. Charles Care Center in Covington, KY)

Vivien Linkhauer, SC
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, United States Province
Greensburg, PA

Dolores Maguire
Sisters of the Holy Faith
Northern California LCWR Region XIV

Sr. Mary Elizabeth Schweiger, OSB
Subprioress
Mount St. Scholastica
Atchison, KS

Marianites of Holy Cross
Sr. Suellen Tennyson, MSC
Congregational Leader

Barbara Hagedorn, SC
Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati
Mt. St. Joseph, Ohio

Francine Schwarzenberger OP
Dominican Sisters of Peace
Denver, Colorado

Sister Maureen McCarthy
School Sisters of St. Francis
U.S. Provincial Team
Milwaukee, WI

Eileen C. Reid, RJM
Provincial Superior
Religious of Jesus and Mary
Washington DC

Sister Cecilia Dwyer, O.S.B.
Prioress
Benedictine Sisters of Virginia

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Sister Joann Sambs, CSA
General Superior

Sisters of St. Francis
Tiffin, Ohio
(from Sr. Mary Kuhlman)

Sr. Helen McDonald, SHCJ
Province Leader
Society of the Holy Child Jesus

Leadership Team
Sisters of the Precious Blood
Dayton, OH

The Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis
Sister Jane Blabolil, SSJ-TOSF
Sister Michelle Wronkowski, SSJ-TOSF
Sister Dorothy Pagosa, SSJ-TOSF
Sister Linda Szocik, SSJ-TOSF

Sr. Gladys Guenther SHF
Sisters of the Holy Family
Congregational President
Fremont, CA

Sr. Dorothy Maxwell, Councilor
Sisters of St. Dominic
Blauvelt New York

Sheral Marshall, OSF
Provincial Councilor
Sisters of St Francis

Marilyn Kerber, SNDdeN
Canonical Representative, Ohio Province

Sisters of St. Louis, California Region
(from Sr. Michele Harnett, SSL)

Ruth Goodwin, OSF
Sisters of ST. Francis of Philadelphia

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Leadership Team

Sr. Joanne Buckman, OSU
Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland

It’d appear that momentum is picking up for health care reform: Today, Ohio Democrat Rep. Dennis Kucinich reversed his position, stating he’d vote for the bill. And Minnesota’s Rep. James Oberstar, once thought to be one of the “Stupak 12″ — 12 anti-abortion Democrats said to be opposing the reform bill — says he’s on board, too.

“I wanted to see the language, understand it better, have conversations with Sen. Nelson,” Oberstar said Wednesday. “On balance, it does what we need to do.”

Kucinich indicated he’d hold his nose while voting for the measure:

My criticisms of the legislation have been well reported.  I do not retract them. I incorporate them in this statement. They still stand as legitimate and cautionary.  I still have doubts about the bill. I do not think it is a first step toward anything I have supported in the past. This is not the bill I wanted to support, even as I continue efforts until the last minute to modify the bill.

Rep. Michele Bachmann will be in Iowa next month, headlining the third annual Defenders of Freedom event organized by fellow Republican Rep. Steve King.

“Together Michele and I have led the charge in the U.S. House to fight the Obama/Pelosi/Reid health care nightmare,” King said in a statement. “It was her idea that sparked our ‘Declaration of Health Care Independence’ and I am proud to call her a friend, ally in the conservative cause and fellow warrior in the culture war.”

Bachmann and King have formed a close relationship, with Bachmann going so far as to float King’s name as a potential presidential candidate in 2012. In fact, on five occasions Bachmann has referred to King as “stunning.” Back in 2008, King’s press secretary, Brandon Lerch, left the congressman’s office to run Bachmann’s re-election campaign.

The two were also featured speakers Tuesday morning at a pair of anti-health care bill rallies held in Washington, D.C., and organized by multiple Tea Party groups.

Bachmann will keynote King’s event April 10 in Sergeant Bluff.

Rep. Erik Paulsen is backing a bill that would make highways safer for truck drivers. On Tuesday, Paulsen announced his support of “Jason’s Law,” which would create more and safer rest areas for truckers. The bill has pulled in the support of four Republicans and 32 Democrats.

The bill is named after New York driver Jason Rivenburg, who was robbed and then murdered for $7 while resting at an abandoned gas station in South Carolina en route to deliver a truckload of milk. He stopped at the station because there were no other available rest areas.

“Our economy hinges greatly on the ability to move goods in a safe, efficient and timely manner,” Paulsen stated at a press conference on Tuesday. “A critical piece of that is ensuring the safety of the men and women who move these goods every day.”

A Senate version of the bill has been introduced by Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York.

Jason’s Law’s aims:

* Constructing safety rest areas that include parking for commercial motor vehicles.
* Constructing commercial motor vehicle parking facilities adjacent to commercial truck stops and travel plazas.
* Opening existing facilities to commercial motor vehicle parking, including inspection and weigh stations and park-and-ride facilities.
* Promoting the availability of publicly or privately provided commercial motor vehicle parking on the National Highway System using intelligent transportation systems and other means.
* Constructing turnouts along the National Highway System for commercial motor vehicles.
* Making capital improvements to public commercial motor vehicle parking facilities currently closed on a seasonal basis.
* Improving the geometric design of interchanges on the National Highway System to improve access to commercial motor vehicle parking facilities.

MnIndy photo collage

An upcoming fundraiser with Rep. Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin will cost up to $10,000, according to the event invitation (PDF) obtained by the Minnesota Independent. The April 7 fundraiser will be held in downtown Minneapolis at the Hilton Hotel following a rally at the Minneapolis Convention Center, which is open to anyone who promises to volunteer for the Republican Party of Minnesota.

A private reception and photo opportunity costs $10,000 per couple. For everyone else, a general reception and dinner will cost $500. For each donor, the first $2,400 will go to Bachmann’s pre-primary campaign. The next $2,400 will go to her general election campaign. Proceeds beyond that will go to the Republican Party of Minnesota.

Sen. Al Franken took to the Senate floor Tuesday to criticize GOP use of the filibuster to slow down the work of the Senate, noting that at times Republicans will filibuster something only to later vote unanimously for it.

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., engaged in a filibuster today because he opposes a law being considered by the Canadian Parliament related to tobacco regulation. Franken rose to speak against Bunning’s filibuster.

“This is a perversion of the filibuster and a perversion of the role of the Senate. It used to be that the filibuster was reserved for matters of great principle, today it has become a way to play out the clock,” Franken said. “Some of my colleagues seem more interested in using every procedural method possible to keep the Senate from doing anything than they are in creating jobs or helping Americans struggling in a difficult economy.”

At today’s “Kill the Bill” rally in Washington, Rep. Michele Bachmann again spoke out against the Democrats’ health care reform plans, saying that we’re “in the bottom of the ninth” and tea party activists have “won every inning.” But her colleague, Rep. Steve King of Iowa, didn’t sound so sure.

Dave Weigel, covering the event for the Washington Independent, got the rundown of the bill’s prospects. Bachmann colleague King weighed in on whether Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak had really rallied a dozen Democrats to vote against the reform bill.

“I can count one — Bart Stupak,” King said. “I can’t name number two. There’s eleven anonymous people and you can’t count anonymous votes. If you can’t count them, they’re not no votes. I think that’s something that should have been pressed much, much harder.”

Despite her bravado, Bachmann — who attended a similar “Kill the Bill” event in St. Paul on Saturday — wasn’t entirely confident that the bill would die:  “I think it’s a flip of a coin right now whether it will pass or not.”

Read Weigel’s account.

A group of Republicans, including Rep. John Kline, will meet with reporters this afternoon to protest the Democrats’ plans to eliminate tens of billions of dollars in government subsidies to private companies that lend to students. The Democrats’ bill would have students borrow directly from the U.S. Treasury, which makes sense to supporters because it’s the Treasury that currently assumes all the risk for those loans anyway — a boon to private companies that assume no risk. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that eliminating the private middleman will save $67 billion over the next decade, most of which will go toward expanding college scholarships to low-income students.No matter.

“Such a move,” the Republicans’ release claims, “is an abuse of the legislative process that will eliminate borrower choice and competition, destroy tens of thousands of jobs, and add to the country’s long-term debt.”

In addition to Kline,  the senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, the group includes Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and Rep. Brett Guthrie (Ky.), the top Republican on the higher education subpanel.

It’s worth noting that not all conservatives agree. In fact, President George W. Bush proposed similar reforms as part of his annual budget proposal during three years of his tenure. More recently, The Weekly Standard blasted the current system of guaranteed loans as “a textbook example of crony capitalism or (if you prefer) corporate socialism.”

The government assumes all the risk while doling out contracts to favored businesses, who then reap the profits. With student loans, the lender gets preening rights in the bargain, marketing itself as a Merchant of Dreams, a benefactor of America’s youth, a sweet-tempered Mr. Jaggers to a nation of eager Pips.

In truth, the only people who like the system of guaranteed loans are the student loan industry — now handling more than $90 billion a year — and the congressmen whose districts contain large numbers of people who work in the student loan industry.

Earlier this month, Rep. Thomas Petri (Wis.), a senior Republican on the Education and Labor Committee, also condemned the current lending framework as a boondoggle enriching private lenders at the expense of taxpayers and students.

“Private loans are much more expensive for borrowers — and much more profitable for lenders,” Petri wrote in Roll Call. “We’ve seen how this plays out — and it isn’t in the form of true choice or competition for students.”

Perhaps GOP leaders knew where Petri stood when they skipped over the 16-term Wisconsin Republican to install Kline — a more conservative four-termer — atop the GOP team on the Education and Labor panel.

Rep. Keith Ellison spoke at the National Iranian American Council last week about the struggles facing the Iranian people as they protest the current regime. Ellison, Congress’ first Muslim, told attendees that freedom should be supported but not enforced.

Titled “Iran at a Crossroads – Assessing a Changing Landscape,” the event put a spotlight on the political turmoil currently facing Iran. Ellison, who is the author of the Stand with Iranian People Act (SWIPA), spoke about the need for reform to come from within the country.

“We believe that a democratic impulse in every nation must be fed by the international community,” he said, “but at the same time the freedom that the people on the streets of Tehran and around Iran are seeking belongs to them, all by themselves. It should be supported, but it shouldn’t be lead, and it certainly shouldn’t be directed [by us].”

A former DFL state senator told the St. Cloud Times over the weekend that he’s challenging Rep. Collin Peterson as an independent. Former Sen. Gene Waldorf was the darling of the anti-abortion movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s when he sponsored legislation that would ban all abortion in Minnesota except in the cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the woman.

Waldorf slammed his former party telling the Times that “bribery” and “closed-door activities” don’t meet long-held ethical standards for lawmaking.

“They’ve lost their integrity in dealing with legislation,” Waldorf said. “They’ve put their party interests ahead of the public.”

Waldorf was well known at the Minnesota Capitol for his unwillingness to compromise on the issue of abortion. ”People say: ‘Why don’t you get together and compromise?’ You can’t. It’s a matter of life and death,” he said in 1989.

That uncompromising stance cost him his seat in 1992. Current Sen. Ellen Anderson challenged him for the DFL endorsement and, with a high number of reproductive-rights advocates attending his caucus, Waldorf decided to retire rather than face a primary.

Waldorf joins four Republican candidates hoping to oust Peterson: Lee Byberg of Willmar, Karen Nelson of Spicer, Melva Larson of Bagley and Glen Menze of Starbuck.

Rep. James Oberstar, who has in the past hinted at opposition to the Senate version of the health reform bill because it isn’t strict enough on abortion, told the Associated Press today that he may vote for the bill.

While the AP offered no direct quote from Oberstar, the news outlet did say that the abortion issue isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker. Oberstar “says he is not an ‘Absolutist’ and that a single issue is not likely to make him vote no.”

The AP says he is “likely” to vote for the Senate version of health care reform. The Eighth District Democrat had previously been seen as one of a dozen Democratic members of Congress sticking with Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan in opposing any health reform that doesn’t explicitly ban abortion — even from private insurance sold on exchanges.

Sen. Tarryl Clark has a new mailer out in the 6th Congressional District that aims at wooing DFL activists. “Washington isn’t working for us and neither is Michele Bachmann,” it reads. “We need leadership that creates jobs and opportunity, not headaches and headlines,” the mailer says of Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Clark’s piece follows literature by Dr. Maureen Reed, who is also vying for the DFL endorsement to take on Bachmann this fall.

Clark’s piece touts her experience in the district and attacks Bachmann for not doing enough for constituents. See full-size scans of the literature at OutState Politics.