Liberal in the Land of Conservative: Betsy Wergin

Showing posts with label Betsy Wergin. Show all posts

The State Of Things In Senate District 16 (Update)

3:28 PM | Posted in Betsy Wergin, District 16B, Mark Olson, Mary Kiffmeyer, Senate District 16, Steve Andrews

This election year is getting more and more interesting in Senate District 16. Over in House District 16B you have what is potentially a three way race that may split this very conservative district enough to hand the seat to moderate DFLer, Steve Andrews. I learned today from a relatively reliable source that Mark Olson WILL be running as an "independent" against Republican endorsed, Mary Kiffmeyer, and DFL endorsed, Steve Andrews.

To top things off, Betsy Wergin was recently appointed to the Public Utilities Commission by Tim Pawlenty opening the Senate seat for a special election tied in with the general election in November.

Will Mary Kiffmeyer get out of 16B and move over to the Senate race?

Will Mark Olson try for the Senate seat?

Tim Budig at the Hometown Source Political Pulse Blog is speculating that Olson may wait until the July 31st deadline and run for the State Senate seat being vacated by Wergin.

As of noon today (July 15) Rep. Mark Olson, R-Big Lake, has not filed for office. Olson is at the Capitol, holed up in his office at last check.

One question is whether Olson, who would face former secretary of state Mary Kiffmeyer if he elects to seek his old district seat, will do that or attempt to win a seat in the Minnesota Senate.

Also, it is interesting to note that a reporter saw Olson at the Capitol yesterday and asked him about filing for the 16B seat. I have to wonder what time that was at given that Olson was scheduled to be at an Education Minnesota candidate screening and called to cancel because of a "meeting".

As of noon today (July 14) Olson, who lost his district endorsement to former secretary of state Mary Kiffmeyer, hadn’t filed for office.

When a reporter saw Olson at a cash machine at the Capitol today and asked about his political plans, Olson refused to comment.

Pressed whether he had made up his mind one way or the other on running, Olson replied that he was “working at it.”

Olson’s office late last week indicated the lawmaker would release a press release tomorrow — last day of filing.

Will both of them, without the knowledge of the other, drop out of 16B and find themselves competing again at the Senate level?

Who will the DFL choose to run for the State Senate seat? I nominated former House District 16B candidate, Jim Huhtala, for the position but he promptly told me that he was no longer interested and preferred to do lawn maintenance (he has a really big lawn folks!) rather than run another election.

If Kiffmeyer abandons the 16B seat can Republicans, in good conscience, vote for a man convicted of assaulting his wife?

So, let's turn this into a prediction thread. Leave your predicitions in the comment section.

Category: Betsy Wergin, District 16B, Mark Olson, Mary Kiffmeyer, Senate District 16, Steve Andrews

��

The State Of Things In Senate District 16

Comments

6:27 PM | Posted in Betsy Wergin, District 16B, Mark Olson, Mary Kiffmeyer, Senate District 16, Steve Andrews

Will Mary Kiffmeyer get out of 16B and move over to the Senate race?

Will Mark Olson try for the Senate seat?

Will both of them, without the knowledge of the other, drop out of 16B and find themselves competing again at the Senate level?

Who will the DFL choose to run for the State Senate seat? I nominated former House District 16B candidate, Jim Huhtala, for the position but he promptly told me that he was no longer interested and preferred to do lawn maintenance (he has a really big lawn folks!) rather than run another election.

If Kiffmeyer abandons the 16B seat can Republicans, in good conscience, vote for a man convicted of assaulting his wife?

So, let's turn this into a prediction thread. Leave your predicitions in the comment section.

Category: Betsy Wergin, District 16B, Mark Olson, Mary Kiffmeyer, Senate District 16, Steve Andrews

��

An Open Message To Global Warming Skeptics: CAN YOU PLEASE PICK A MESSAGE!

Comments

3:59 PM | Posted in Betsy Wergin, Global Warming, Mark Olson

Let me be perfectly clear, I am neither a scientist nor am I even an arm chair expert on issues of climate change and global warming. That being said, someone in the global warming denier organization really ought to be sitting people down to come up with a coherent message because from my perspective, YOU DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. Now, before you jump down my throat as some sort of Al Gore loving sycophant, I would like to remind you that this is quite possibly my first post on the subject of global warming and that I am far from being a hard core environmentalist (which will probably get some of my eco-liberal friends ticked off at me).

On the one hand, you try to make the claim that there is no global warming. Yet, in the same breath you are quick to claim that if there is it is certainly not due to human activity.

Can you really have it both ways? It doesn't seem logically possible to both deny something and claim that the thing you are denying is being caused by other things. Even more mind boggling than that, is how you can actually create evidence to support the idea that global warming is a natural occurring phenomenon while at the same time claiming you don't believe the Earth is warming in the first place. It seems to me, that if you are finding and presenting evidence that global warming is NOT a phenomenon caused by humans, then you have already accepted the premise that global warming exists and is occurring.

Never is this strange conflict more apparent than on days such as today. Outside, in April, you will find a snowstorm raging across the landscape as if it were the middle of winter rather than the beginning of spring. All across the global warming skeptic world, you find the "told you so" crowd using this event to claim that this obviously proves there is no global warming. Yet, this same crowd will then debate global warming by making claims that it is not caused by humans. Before this crowd can come to the table for the debate, their first task really ought to be to make a decision on whether there is or is not global warming.

What got me pondering this message was a post by Larry Schumacher a couple weeks ago in which he publicizes an upcoming forum to be held by Mark Olson and his friend Betsy Wergin in Senate District 16.

Sen. Betsy Wergin, R-Princeton, and Rep. Mark Olson, R-Big Lake, are hosting a climate change forum next month featuring the viewpoints of a free market non-profit that argues that there is no global warming trend and that, if there is, it isn't caused by humans.

So, Mark, Betsy, and some guy from the Heartland Institute are going to sit you down and tell you that global warming isn't real but just in case it is they are also going to tell you all the reasons it cannot possibly be caused by human activity. I see, makes perfect sense!

Given the complete destruction of logic that it will take in order to make that argument, it may be time to break out the camera and go youtubing. If you too, would like to go youtubing, send me an email and we can coordinate a fun and exciting experience where we learn to both deny global warming and effectively deny the human activity aspect of global warming which we didn't believe was happening in the first place. Got that? April 17th, 2008, at Elk River High School (7pm).

Cross Posted on St. Cloud Times

Category: Betsy Wergin, Global Warming, Mark Olson

��

Good Luck Betsy!

Comments

5:15 PM | Posted in Betsy Wergin

I have met Betsy Wergin a few times during Lobby Day for Education Minnesota and found her to be one of the kindest and honest people at the Capitol. While we may not agree on many education issues I have found her always willing to listen and openly discuss.

Here's to you Betsy! Hope Everything turns out well!

Wergin to donate a kidney
By Lawrence Schumacher lschumacher@stcloudtimes.com

Published: August 24. 2007 12:30AM
While some state lawmakers are preparing for a special session, Betsy Wergin is preparing for a medical procedure she will undergo in hopes of restoring her sister’s health.
Wergin, a state senator from Princeton, is scheduled to have a kidney removed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester this morning. Her kidney will be transplanted to her sister, Loni Knase of Coon Rapids.
“I think most anybody would do it for a sibling,” Wergin said. “I can’t wait to see her feeling better.”
The second-term Republican said she expects to be in the hospital for three to five days, but she’s been told not to expect to feel great for up to six weeks afterward.
Though she doesn’t think a special legislative session is necessary, the surgery shouldn’t affect her ability to represent her district if Gov. Tim Pawlenty calls one, Wergin said.
“It’s not like I’m going to be lifting heavy boxes or doing lots of physical labor,” she said. “My body will have to adjust to 50 percent kidney function, but you can live a full, healthy life after that.”
Wergin’s sister has had kidney problems for many years, and was a candidate for transplant six years ago, Wergin said.
But Knase was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly before a scheduled transplant, and recipients must be cancer-free for five years before a transplant can take place, Wergin said.
Since then, Knase has received kidney dialysis treatment, but has contracted a disease related to dialysis that made her very sick, Wergin said.
Wergin and another sister had both volunteered to be donors six years ago and were initially considered tissue matches, but the other sister was recently screened out before final approval, she said.
Wergin, 55, is an assistant Senate minority leader and the ranking minority member of the Senate Capital Investment Committee, which deals with state bonding bills.