The study averaged the net worth of each member. When members file their financial disclosure statements, they list assets and liabilities as part of minimum and maximum bet worth and CRP averaged those. For example, Sen. Amy Klobuchar reported a minimum net worth of $345,029 and a maximum of $1,104,000 for an average net worth of $724,512.

In Minnesota politics, the Republican members are much wealthier than the DFLers.

The wealthiest member of Minnesota’s delegation was Sen. Al Franken with an average net worth of $8,747,525 followed by Rep. Michele Bachmann at $1,783,508 and Rep. Chip Cravaack in 217th place with an average net worth of $1,391,551.

Those three were in the top half of Congress’ 535 members.

After Klobuchar’s $724,512 comes Rep. Erik Paulsen with an average net worth of $487,017, Rep. John Kline had $471,006, Rep. Collin Peterson had $263,005, Rep. Tim Walz with $247,502, and Rep. Betty McCollum with an average net worth of $88,005.

Rep. Keith Ellison had the lowest net worth, with negative $14,497.

The generally accepted cutoff for the top 1 percent of Americans in terms of net worth is about $9 million on 2010, a threshold that none of the Minnesota delegation report.

Eleven percent of Congress is in the top 1 percent in terms of net worth.

Source: A still of Sen. Amy Klobuchar from the ad.

In ads that will run on cable throughout the week, digital rights activist groups criticize Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar for support of the Commercial Felony Streaming Act, which they say would throttle internet freedom to protect profits for entertainment companies.

On its website, Demand Progress, a progressive group, says they have one goal for the ad: “We need to embarrass a key lawmaker to set an example for others, and make it clear that it’s not okay to shill for the entertainment industry.”

The ad targets the Commercial Felony Streaming Act, which would “makes unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty of up to 5 years in prison,” according to Open Congress.

The ad is named “Bieber is Right” in reference to teen pop star Justin Bieber’s comments criticizing Klobuchar for the bill. It asks: “Why is Sen. Klobuchar’s top legislative priority an internet censorship bill that would risk putting ordinary internet users and even Justin Bieber behind bars?”

It’s also paid for by Fight for the Future, a technology rights group, and contains much footage from Occupy Wall Street rallies in Minnesota. Many other groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology, have opposed the legislation.

The act is supported by a host of entertainment and media companies, many of which gave generously to Democratic candidates, according to Open Congress.

Both testified that DOMA hurts same-sex couples who are legally married in several states. Franken told his colleagues that repealing the law would have not consequences for heterosexual couples, and that allowing same-sex marriage won’t make anyone gay.

The repeal effort passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 10-8. It still needs to pass a full vote on the Senate floor and faces opposition in the Republican-controlled House, although Minnesota Reps. Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum and Tim Walz are supporters of the House version.

Klobuchar said she was “struck” by the number of people who testified against DOMA in hearings last summer.

“They were discriminated against and unfairly harmed,” Klobuchar said. “They were denied protections like the ability to take off work to care for a dying partner and denied survivor benefits when a partner died.”

Klobuchar also said the issue wasn’t about religion.

“Whatever we vote on today and whatever happens today, the bill doesn’t require any church or mosque or synagogue to perform same-sex marriage. As the debate on this continues, we cannot lose sight of that,” she said.

Franken took issue with a statement by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who argued that marriage has always been defined as the union of one man and one woman. Franken argued that was false.

“In many cultures, men have been able to marry many women and young girls. For centuries, women have been treated as cattle in marriage. Further, if the religious purpose for marriage is procreation, why would we sanction marriage between an 89-year-old widower and an 80-year-old widow?” Franken said. “I just think we need to be accurate when we talk about the history of marriage, the history of man and woman, the history of our institutions.”

Franken spoke about couples in Minnesota who have been harmed by DOMA including a young couple who met in divinity school and married in Connecticut who have to lie on their federal tax forms and say they are single.

He talked about another Minnesota couple that married in Iowa, John and Jeff Westerfield. John was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“Jeff won’t have the federal right to take a medical leave. If John passes, Jeff won’t see a dime from Social Security,” said Franken. “DOMA hurts people who love each other. DOMA hurts people who want to adopt kids and raise them and take care of them. DOMA hurts families.

“We need to pass this bill. Straight people aren’t suddenly going to become gay, Straight people aren’t going to stop getting married. We are going to be just fine. Really.”

The bill, dubbed the Respect for Marriage Act, passed the committee on a party-line vote.

Members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation signed onto a letter urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to speed up the approval process for medical devices.

It was signed by 41 members of Congress, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Betty McCollum, Sen. Al Franken, Rep. John Kline, Rep. Michele Bachmann and Rep. Erik Paulsen, who the Minnesota Independent previously reported is a major recipient of the industry’s campaign donations.

The letter notes that medical devices are appearing in Europe months or years before they’re approved in the United States.

“Unless we make significant improvements to the predictability and transparency of the regulatory process, we will lose the industry, the jobs that go with it, and the innovation to transform our healthcare system,” the letter states.

The members of Congress offer some changes to the FDA’s approval process in the letter, including instituting a new tracking system and changing conflict of interest requirements of those serving on advisory panels.

“We recognize the need to balance risk and benefit; we all share patient safety as our primary concern, but there must be a “least burdensome approach” to achieve this without crippling an industry,” the letter states.

The medical device industry is a major backer of Paulsen, with donations from industry Political Action Committees (PACs) and executives helping to make him the lead fundraiser in Minnesota’s House delegation.

The New York Times later noted that efforts to reform the agency’s procedures are part of a push from venture capitalists investing in the industry. Congressional hearings on the subject have been overloaded with industry supporters, paying little attention to the potential dangers of medical devices.

The letter from Klobuchar and other signatories:

Dear Dr. Hamburg,

The bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Medical Technology Caucus, and other members of Congress join together to express our concerns about regulatory issues facing the medical device industry. This is an industry that has become increasingly important as dramatic improvements over the last decade have revolutionized healthcare and improved the quality of life for millions of Americans.

We share your commitment to ensuring safe and effective medical devices are available to patients. However, we are very concerned about recent declines in FDA performance. Increased review times, inconsistent expectations, and poor communication from the FDA are causing a lack of confidence and instability in the industry.

From the President’s own Jobs Council report released this month

“Today, however, our medical innovation ecosystem is in jeopardy. Investment in the life sciences area is declining at an alarming rate because of the escalating cost, time and risk of developing new drugs and devices. While many factors have contributed to this decline – including challenges around reimbursement and the general state of the economy – an important factor is the uncertain FDA regulatory environment. These concerns come at a time when Europe, China, and India continue to entice companies to take their medical research and development enterprises abroad, putting at risk our ability to keep private investment and jobs here at home.” [1]

Dissatisfaction with the approval process is no longer just anecdotal: data shows the average time to approve a 510(k) application has increased by 43% from the 2003-2007 period to 2010.[2] The average time to approve a PMA application has increased 75%.[3] The total review times for both 510(k)s and PMAs are now actually longer than they were before the user fee program was instituted.[4]

It has also become significantly more costly to get new products approved. Companies spend an additional $520,000 a month as they wait for FDA approval of a 510(k) product and $740,000 each month for a PMA product.[5] This is simply unsustainable.

Today, the United States accounts for 40 percent of the global medical technology market[6] and the industry indirectly creates two million American jobs.[7] Maintaining American leadership in this field is essential for jobs and for patients. Unless we make significant improvements to the predictability and transparency of the regulatory process, we will lose the industry, the jobs that go with it, and the innovation to transform our healthcare system.

We recognize the need to balance risk and benefit; we all share patient safety as our primary concern, but there must be a “least burdensome approach” to achieve this without crippling an industry. We urge you to make every possible improvement to cut down device approval time by:

• Recognizing and correcting the disparity between “FDA time” versus real time when tracking device approvals
• Considering potential benefits of harmonization with international testing standards
• Addressing the unintended consequences of the conflict of interest rules for advisory panels
• Creating a transparent tracking and review system for applications and clearance decisions

These are just some of the ways the FDA can improve the process.

We appreciate the FDA’s efforts in developing an Innovation Agenda and we recognize these changes will not take place overnight. However, stakeholders from innovators and patients, to investors and physicians all note that if the FDA does not restore regulatory certainty, predictability, and transparency, investment in the industry will continue to decline and this uniquely American success story could disappear.

Sincerely,

Anna G. Eshoo                                                           Erik Paulsen
Amy Klobuchar                                                          Scott P. Brown
Richard Lugar                                                             Al Franken
Debbie Stabenow                                                        Brian Bilbray
Jay Inslee                                                                    David Drier
Michael Honda                                                           Dan Burton
Betty McCollum                                                         Marlin Stutzman
Bob Filner                                                                   Ken Calvert
Jason Altmire                                                              Charles Bass
Andre Carson                                                              Mary Bono Mack
Susan Davis                                                                Michael Burgess
Joe Donnelly                                                               Todd Young
Pat Tiberi                                                                     Michael Rogers
Marsha Blackburn                                                       Jim Gerlach
John Kline                                                                   Michael R. Turner
Charles Dent                                                               Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Michele Bachmann                                                     Brett Guthrie
Aaron Schock                                                             Glenn Thompson
Anne Marie Buerkle                                                    Chris Gibson
Bill Huizenga                                                              Patrick Meehan
Todd Rokita

cc: Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services

Source: Gfpeck, Flickr

One day after 90 percent of union workers rejected the most recent contract offer by American Crystal Sugar, members of the region’s congressional delegations are calling for both parties to return to the bargaining table.

About 1,300 union workers have been locked out of their jobs by American Crystal Sugar since Aug. 1. Since the lockout started, the union and company have only met twice, both times at the urging of a federal mediator. Following the rejection of Monday’s offer, there are no plans to meet again.

Sen. Al Franken said “it’s imperative that both sides continue to work to come to an agreement that will end this lockout and get workers back on the job,” pointing out that all sides play a role in the sugar industry’s success.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Collin Peterson released a joint statement highlighting the impact of the lockout on communities across the Red River Valley: “We continue to urge both Crystal Sugar management and workers to come together at the negotiating table to work out an agreement that allows workers to return to their jobs as soon as possible. American Crystal and these jobs are very important to the region.”

Locked out workers in Minnesota are receiving unemployment benefits, but those who live in North Dakota are denied them under state law. Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota said in a statement that the “lock-out is taking a serious toll on families in North Dakota and Minnesota and the economic and social impact can be felt up and down the Red River Valley.”

In an interview with the Grand Forks Herald, Conrad admitted that the dispute could harm the chances of a farm bill. Franken has warned in the past that American Crystal Sugar’s tactics of locking out workers could alienate pro-worker members of Congress who have previously supported protections for the sugar industry.

Conrad told the Grand Forks Herald that the “company needs to think long and hard about the consequences, about the implications of their strategy.”

Hernandez joins former legislator Dan Severson and St. Bonafacius City Council member Joe Arwood. Hernandez said his platform includes bringing “moral principles” to government and praised Herman Cain’s 999 tax plan.

“I do not feel comfortable, given the course that we are on, handing to furute generations the current country that we have now,” he said at a press conference Tuesday. “We must restore a political system of moral principle back in America.”

He said “individual life and family” are the the most crucial units of society.

He called for term limits, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution mandating Congress pass a budget, a repeal of health care reform, an end to “unconstitutional wars” and tax reform.

“I like the idea of Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan,” he said. “Is it perfect? No, but it’s a start.”

Hernandez last ran for office in one of St. Paul’s Senate districts in 2010, losing to DFL Sen. Dick Cohen.

He was also the Minnesota leader of Somos Republicans, a Latino Republican group. A representative of that group told the Minnesota Independent on Thursday that Hernandez has left the group.

On state issues, Hernandez supports a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

“In 2012, Minnesota voters will decide whether to amend the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman,” he wrote on his campaign website. “I believe that government should have a very limited role in marriage. As a result, I support the referendum in that I believe it is best for the people of Minnesota, rather than politicians or activist judges, to decide this important cultural issue.”

He’s also an opponent of abortion rights.

“The right to life is a core principle described both within the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution,” he says. “As your U.S. Senator, I will work to protect the natural right to life from conception until natural death.”

Combined, Joe Arwood and Dan Severson have raised only $50,000 and have about $35,000 in the bank.

Klobuchar took in $934,456 in the 3rd quarter and has $4 million in cash on hand.

Republican challenger Dan Severson took in $35,700 and the campaign has a $6,300 debt on the books. He has $27,800 cash on hand.

The other Republican challenger, Joe Arwood, announced on Wednesday that he raised $10,500 and that he has $7,100 cash on hand.

Klobuchar raised nearly $9 million in her first run for the Senate in 2006. She beat Republican Mark Kennedy with 58 percent of the vote.

The bills were supported by corporations, including Minnesota-based Cargill, while labor and human rights groups opposed the measures, particularly the deal with Colombia.

The South Korea agreement passed the House by a vote of 278 to 151 and the Senate by a vote of 83 to 15. The Colombia agreement passed the House 262-167 and the Senate 66-33. The deal with Panama passed the House 300-129 and the Senate 77-22.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken voted in favor of the South Korea and both voted against the Columbia deal. Klobuchar supported the Panama deal and Franken opposed it.

Republican Reps. Erik Paulsen, Michele Bachmann, John Kline and Chip Cravaack voted for all three trade agreements.

“These trade agreements will open new markets for Minnesotan and American workers, farmers, and small businesses to sell their goods and services to new customers,” Paulsen said in a statement. “Currently, U.S. exporters face unfair restrictions in other countries – either through high tariffs or discriminating regulations that put them at a disadvantage. These agreements help address these imbalances and level the playing field. I look forward to working with the President to implement these pacts so we can create jobs here at home, and get our economy back on track.”

Cravaack also praised the passage of the bills.

“Our ailing economy will not be cured through a single ‘jobs bill’ — it will take a comprehensive series of measures, all aimed toward removing government barriers to private-sector job growth and tax relief for employers and small businesses,” Cravaack said. “The bipartisan effort to pass the three free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, which will help America’s farmers, businesses and manufacturers increase our exports and create jobs, represents a good start. These FTAs will create jobs at home in Minnesota without costing taxpayers a dime and will level the playing field for American exports and boost demand for our products.”

Bachmann returned to Washington from the campaign trail to cast her first vote since August.

“My long-standing support of the free trade agreements was reinforced when I met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia in February, and again when I discussed trade in my office with South Korean Ambassador Han Duk-soo in June,” she said. “Both the countries of Colombia and South Korea are eager for the implementation of these free trade agreements.”

All of Minnesota’s DFLers voted against the deal with Colombia citing concerns of government violence against the labor movement in that country. Reps. Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum voted against all three free trade agreements.

In a floor speech, McCollum explained her opposition.

“In Colombia, the intimidation and murder of trade unionists and human rights workers is widespread. According to Human Rights Watch, over 50 trade unionists were murdered last year,” McCollum said. “The Colombian government’s human rights record may be improving but it is still very poor. This is not the time to reward Colombia’s poor record with a preferential trade arrangement. This agreement does not advance fair trade, and I urge my colleagues to vote against it.”

She also said that the trade agreements would cost American jobs and create offshore tax havens for corporations.

“As we’ve seen with free trade agreements with China, NAFTA, and CAFTA, unfair trade deals cost American jobs,” McCollum said. “This is why Trade Adjustment Assistance exists — to provide training to workers who lose their jobs due to trade. Considering TAA while we consider these three agreements is evidence that these deals result in the loss of jobs here in the U.S. I support the passage of the needed TAA extension in order to provide some protections for American workers.”

The TAA, a fourth bill intended to offset the predicted job losses caused by the trade deals was supported by all members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation.

In the rest of the delegation, Rep. Collin Peterson backed the bill for South Korea and Panama but not Colombia. And Rep. Tim Walz voted for South Korea but not Panama and Colombia.

Just before the vote, the AFL-CIO sent an email alert to supporters urging them to contact Congress to vote against the trade bills.

These trade deals don’t benefit America’s workers. And an increasing number of people understand that. Only 17 percent of Americans polled think so-called free trade agreements have benefited the United States. And even 61 percent of self-identified Tea Party supporters think these agreements have hurt America,” the group said. “Politicians who support these agreements are claiming they will help with our jobs crisis—which is a talking point straight from Wall Street lobbyists—and it’s wrong. The Korea deal alone will cost 159,000 net American jobs.”

Bovey resident Bill Hamm announced Monday that he will be running in the DFL primary for U.S. Senate. Hamm is a perennial candidate who has flirted with the Tea Party and has previously run on the DFL and Independence Party tickets.

Hamm said it was Klobuchar’s support for “racist” policies that prompted him to run.

Hamm most recently ran in the DFL primary against Jim Oberstar in the 8th Congressional District in 2010. Prior to that, he was an Independence Party candidate for state House seat 3A and in 2002 he was a DFL primary candidate in the Senate District 3.

Recently, he was a contributor to TeaParty.org.

In a press release announcing his candidacy, Hamm criticized Klobuchar for being “anti-gun” and for supporting public policy that Hamm describes as racist:

1. Senator Klobuchar’s 8-year stance against freedom and the Second Amendment. Her anti-gun position, as identified by her ZERO NRA rating and her expected support for the UN small arms treaty, disproportionately affects people of color and rural Americans, a very un-American position.

2. Senator Klobuchar’s 8-year aggression against freedom by means of her continued support of the racist/economically biased “War on Drugs.” She supported this same policy as a persecutor of these groups while working as a public prosecutor prior to her election. Her commitment to this racist and culturally biased program (started knowingly by Richard Nixon) is inexcusable.

3. Senator Klobuchar’s 8-year support of the racist/economically biased addiction of our children to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) drugs. This predominantly male diagnosis is being made at rates seen nowhere else in the world. Because up to 8% of these male children addicted to ADHD drugs before puberty will be made sterile and that more than twice as many poverty level children are being addicted, one could consider her a champion of the New Eugenics.

4. Senator Klobuchar’s 8-year support for continued Federal influence in the states’ rights issue of educating our children has undisputedly lead to the most racially and economically biased education system Minnesota and the nation have seen since the days of the Jim Crow South.

5. Senator Klobuchar’s 8-year failure of leadership in reducing the world’s highest addiction rate to the products of big drug companies. Over 47% of America’s adult population is now addicted with 90+% of all painkillers made being prescribed here. Drug dependency upon prescription drugs is, again, racially and economically biased in application and scope.

6. Senator Klobuchar’s 8-year failure to do anything to stop the Great American obesity epidemic. This rampant problem is again racially and economically skewed by the kinds of foods available and affordable to these people. Senator Klobuchar’s abject failure to lead on this issue has made her a passive witness to the fattening of America for profit by companies like Monsanto.

7. Senator Klobuchar’s 8-year failure to do anything to turn around the unemployment rate of Black Americans that runs at more than double that of whites. She is practicing the costly and ineffective welfare state approach of giving them a hand out rather than a hand up. A policy that undermines blacks while keeping middle class union workers employed.

In a speech at the Minneapolis Convention Center Tuesday, Pres. Barack Obama told 5,000 American Legion members of his commitment to providing services for the country’s soldiers, who bear “scars of war seen and unseen.”

“In a decade of war, they have borne an extraordinary burden, with more than two million of our service members deploying to the war zones,” Obama said. “Hundreds of thousands have deployed again and again, year after year—never before has our nation asked so much of our all-volunteer force.”

A policy of shorter deployments and draw-down of troops in Afghanistan has removed some soldiers from harm’s way, Obama said, although there’s a “moral obligation” to provide support for those who’ve already served, including extending the reach of health care, especially for rural veterans and women.

He referenced the tough job market for returning soldiers. Minnesota has one of the nation’s worst unemployment rates for veterans who’ve served since Sept. 11, according to a recent congressional report. Obama vowed to create 100,000 jobs for veterans, through the creation of the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits for companies that hire veterans.

“For the sake of our veterans, for the sake of our economy, we need these veterans working and contributing and creating the new jobs and industries that will keep America competitive in the 21st century,” Obama said.

Obama said mental health care was also a priority for his administration — long waits for mental health treatments have drawn criticism.

“The days when depression, PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder] were stigmatized must end. That’s why I made the decision to start sending condolence letters to the families of service members who take their lives while deployed in a combat zone,” Obama said. “These American patriots did not die because they were weak — they were warriors, they deserve our respect — every man and woman in uniform, every veteran, needs to know that your nation will be there to help you stay strong.”

U.S. Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison also spoke Tuesday. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann is scheduled to speak to the convention Thursday.