Monday, May 21st, 2012

DM&E Update: Here’s a Scorecard to Keep Track of Who’s Lined Up for Powder River Bowl

By Leigh Pomeroy
Tuesday, February 06, 2007 at 9:38 pm

UPDATE: Since this article was originally posted, the United Transportation Union has declared its opposition to the proposed DM&E loan. See “United Transportation Union Blasts DM&E Loan“.

The football season ends but politics remain with us forever. For both it’s usually a simple matter of the good guys vs. the bad guys, my team vs. your team, Colts vs. Bears, Republicans vs. Democrats. Not so with the all the hoopla surrounding a proposed $2.3 billion federal loan for a struggling Midwestern railroad called the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern, also known as the DM&E.

This issue has been well covered on Minnesota Monitor, in the mainstream media and on various blogs.

more insideThis complex issue has caused intra-party rifts, pitting Republicans and Democrats in South Dakota vs. Democrats and Republicans in Minnesota. The divide has not broken down politically but by state and economic interests. On one side is the railroad, big agriculture, the South Dakota congressional delegation and many rural communities. On the other is the Mayo Clinic, ranchers in Wyoming and South Dakota, the Minnesota congressional delegation, taxpayer watchdog and environmental groups, and the largest city along the route.

But the best way to tell the players in any game is to have a scorecard. So Minnesota Monitor and Vox Verax are now offering the exclusive DM&E Powder River Bowl game scorecard below. Get out your scissors, folks — this one’s a keeper.

DM&E “Coal-busters” On the sidelines Mayo Clinic “Healers”
Coach Kevin Schieffer, CEO, DM&E George W. Bush, President, United States Glenn Forbes, CEO, Mayo Clinic
Offensive backfield
  • Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.)
  • Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)
  • Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-S.D.)
  • Gov. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
  • U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters
  • Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman, House Transportation Committee
  • Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), chairman, House Agriculture Committee
  • Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.)
  • Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
  • Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.)
  • Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.)
Offensive line
  • DM&E Railroad
  • GOTRAC
  • Minnesota Farm Bureau
  • Minnesota Farmer’s Union
  • Minnesota Grain and Feed Association
  • Minnesota Soybean Processors
  • South Dakota Association of Cooperatives
  • South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  • South Dakota Corn Growers Association
  • South Dakota Farm Bureau
  • South Dakota Farmers Union
  • South Dakota Grain & Feed Association
  • South Dakota Rural Electric Association
  • South Dakota Soybean Processors
  • South Dakota Wheat Growers
  • City of Brookings, S.D.*
  • City of Mankato, Minn.*
  • City of Pierre, S.D.*
  • Blue Earth County, Minn.*
  • Burlington Northern Railroad**
  • Union Pacific Railroad
  • United Transportation Union (represents DM&E employees)

*Currently negotiating or renegotiating agreements with the DM&E.

**Has expressed reservations about DM&E’s intention to ship coal via Iowa, Chicago & Eastern (IC&E) lines in northern Iowa. IC&E is a wholly-owned DM&E subsidiary.