Mr. Dahle Goes to St. Paul

A few weeks ago my wife, Beth asked me how we could possibly thank everyone for the support and I reminded her that people aren’t supporting me, they are supporting something much bigger—the ideas of that I will carry with me to St. Paul.

At this point I expect that the election will come down to forty or fifty votes. That means that every single vote is HUGE! If you are voting by absentee, you can vote at the Le Sueur, Rice, Scott, and Sibley county courthouses or the Northfield City hall during the following times.

Saturday, December 29: until 3:00 pm

Monday, December 31: 8 pm -4:30 pm

Wednesday, January 2: 8 pm -5 pm

Remember, only the votes cast are counted. And once again, thanks so much for your support!

It has been a lot of fun to talk with the people of District 25. The response has been great as we made over 2,000 calls on Thursday and close to that on Friday. Today we have people doorknocking throughout the District, and the phone lines in our office are full.

U.S. House of Representatives candidate Steve Sarvi has been here with his staff; Mike Ciresi has sent 5 people; and Mayor R.T. Rybak is calling from home because he was too sick to come down and knock on doors. After calling for a half hour, Mayor Rybak emailed back to the office to tell me that he was amazed at the great response that he had been getting on the phone calls.

This election will be won by the people that we contact on the phones and we need your help for at least 2 hours any day between now and the 3rd. Email me at [email protected] to volunteer.

I can feel the momentum build, and am excited for January 3rd.

Thanks for the overwhelming show of support that I have received in the last weeks.  When I decided to run for this seat, I made a commitment to my family and friends to focus on the issues.  Many people have stopped me on the street, or emailed me to say that they appreciate the fresh outlook that I can bring to the Senate.  I can only respond by saying that when I am your Senator, I truly want to rise above partisanship.  In my experience I have seen this as the only way to find workable solutions.  I addressed this in a letter to the editor of the Northfield News (click the link to read it):  Dahle Hopes for New Direction

A few days ago I met with Al Franken down at Java Live in Faribault.  There were many supporters there from District 25.  For those of you who don’t know, Al is running for the United States Senate.  He grew up in St. Louis Park, went to Harvard and then worked as part of the original writing team for Saturday Night Live. Here’s what he had to say about our meeting:http://blog.alfranken.com/2007/12/19/javalive/

Thursday night at the Grand Theatre I had a great opportunity to debate with my opponents the issues facing our District. I hope you had the chance to attend. I enjoyed meeting those that came- we had a packed house in spite of the busy holiday season.

The discussion centered on health care, education, energy, the economy, and more. Folks in the audience seemed most concerned with the economy and health care, and I heard some great questions.

Where do I stand?

Heath care: The people in attendance at the debate seemed to agree that we need to step in the direction of change because our current system isn’t working. Families shouldn’t have to make choices between medicine and food. The problem is not what we provide in the area of health care but in the process by which we provide it. The first place to begin without jeopardizing quality health care is to reexamine and reform current administrative costs that are redundant, unnecessarily expensive, and unchecked.

Property tax: Property tax has gone sky high in the last few years. We’ve got to do something about this. We need to look at our current property tax system to see why property taxes are so high. Local governments and schools shouldn’t have to rely as heavily on property taxes for funding. This is unfair to the towns in our district because we don’t have the corporate tax base to compete with the big cities.

Energy and Ethanol: We’ve got to do something to relieve our dependence on foreign oil but we have to find an alternative that is environmentally responsible. My role at the senate will allow me to advocate for state incentives for industries to find effective and responsible ways to address our energy needs while providing jobs and industry for Minnesotans. We need to move forward to eliminate obstacles for those who want to invest in proven methods such as wind power.

Want to know more about me and my thoughts on the issues? You can go to my website www.kevindahle.net and go to the issues page.

There is a lot to do in a very little time. The most important thing to me is to meet you at your door and find out what concerns you. Remember to vote on January 3rd!

A Senate candidates debate is scheduled for Thursday, December 20, 2007 at the Grand Theatre. I look forward to the opportunity to talk about my plan to represent the entire District as your Senator in St. Paul.  

The rising cost of health care in the state of Minnesota as well as in the country is one of the greatest concerns we face today. Some of the decisions facing Minnesotans in the future will be:

…. How will our farming community and our families be able to afford health care?

…. How will small businesses and their employees be able to afford health care when the costs are eating up any possible wage increases?

…. How are we going to deal with long-term care of our aging population which means my parents and your parents?

These are problems facing every Minnesotan, whether you can afford insurance or not. What is certain is that health care costs and coverage are changing so rapidly that there is no guarantee it will be there when you need it the most.

Myths have circulated for years that blamed the rising costs of health care on - Americans aging faster than citizens of other countries, Americans have unhealthy lifestyles, malpractice law suits, and so on. None of these have any relevance. They have been refuted by numerous studies conducted by many reputable universities and organizations.

The real reasons for rising health care costs are administrative costs.  In the past 11 years the administrative costs for healthcare in Minnesota have risen 403%! From 1968 to 1993 administrative staff have increased 288%. That rate is nearly twice the increase in the number of registered nurses and almost four times the increase in the number of physicians. The source of this data is from the MN Dept. of Health, which requires HMOs to file annual reports on their expenditures.

The State of Minnesota cannot afford to lose our small business and farming community. We need to provide assurances to our elderly and to our Minnesota families that health care will be affordable and it will be around when you need it. We have to find solutions and we have to do it now.

Kevin was the auctioneer at the 2007 NAG Festival of Trees!

The annual Festival of Trees helps the NAG raise essential funds. “We deck the halls of our Division Street arts center with specially-decorated trees and wreaths, along with a wide selection of hand-made ornaments and gift items created by area artists and crafters,” explains Northfield Arts Guild executive director Michael Fallon, on the Northfield Arts Gallery website.

Local photographer and blogger Griff Wigley took some of Kevin and other NAG supporters.

More information can be found on the NAG website and on Locallygrownnorthfield.org. In addition, Northfield.org has stories and links to photos from previous Fesitival of Trees events.

Want to know more about Senate District 25?   The Belle Plaine Area DFL website has a great map and listing of cities.

Also, the Belle Plaine DFL blog, which is kept current and is separate from the website mentioned above, is aggegated on the right side of our blog.

Also, we’ve got links to a profile of Senate District 25 and we’ve got a link to another Senate District 25 map, as well.

On Saturday, Rep. David Bly and I went to Belle Plaine and walked the downtown Belle Plaine area.  We had a good time talking with business owners.  We also talked with Ed Townsend, editor of the Belle Plaine Herald, and walked some outlying housing areas.

For lunch we ate at  Duets, and I’m not kidding, I had one of the best sub sandwiches I’ve ever eaten.

It was good to meet with the Belle Plaine folks and I felt we got a lot accomplished even though it was bitterly cold.