Walz, Bachmann, Klobuchar, Coleman, Kline, McCollum: No to DM&E Loan

Republicans, Democrats combine to thwart Sen. Thune, DM&E back-door deal

One would think that it would be a cold day in hell or a consistently 70º Minnesota winter to see newly elected Minnesota Reps. Tim Walz and Michele Bachmann cosponsoring the same piece of legislation. The same is true with veteran Minnesota Reps. Betty McCollum and John Kline, as arguably the four names represent the broadest possible spread of political perspective among Minnesota’s House delegation.

But wait. There’s more! Minnesota’s Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, are introducing companion legislation in the upper house of Congress.

more insideAh, you think, it’s gotta be one of those non-controversial bills calling for some monument or honoring a famous Minnesotan’s birthday, legislation that would pass by unanimous consent. Those slip through Congress like prunes through a toddler all the time.

But there’s more! Two other sponsors of the House bill are Democrat Mark Udall and Republican Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado, veterans like Kline and McCollum and politically as opposite. What gives?

Three letters: DM&E.

All eight, plus five more members of the House, are cosponsoring legislation aimed at derailing one of the largest proposed pork deals in the country’s history, a $2.3 billion taxpayer-guaranteed, collateral-free loan for the DM&E, a small Midwestern railroad, so that it can compete as a coal hauler with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroads. This is ten times the cost of the ill-fated bridge-to-nowhere in Alaska.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a former lobbyist for the railroad, slipped the $2.3 billion loan provision into the Transportation Bill at the last minute nearly two years ago.

Since much has been written about this sweetheart legislative deal, I’m not going into detail here. But more information, including internal documents from the DM&E, can be found at Minnesota Monitor and Vox Verax, as well as at A Bluestem Prairie and I Don’t Hate America.