Collin Peterson

Minnesota’s members of the House of Representatives are back in their home districts gauging how constituents feel about federal issues. That feedback will also include town hall meetings for a number of Congress members including Reps. Tim Walz, Collin Peterson and Michele Bachmann. Will Minnesota’s town halls get as rowdy as ones around the nation? Time will tell. Here’s what Minnesota Congressional delegation was up to this week.

Rep. Collin Peterson faced criticism last month when he told Politico “I don’t do town meetings” because of the raucous personalities that often show up to such events. Despite that, Peterson has scheduled two health care town hall meetings in his district within the next week.

The Republican Party of Minnesota and the Republican National Committee released a pair of ads on Tuesday attacking Reps. Tim Walz and Collin Peterson on health care reform. The spots spoof the ubiquitous television ads for prescription medications using a fake drug, “Reforma.” They’re not new, having been around since July, but this is the [...]

Rep. Collin Peterson told Minnesota Public Radio on Wednesday that he wasn’t likely to support a health care reform bill currently being debated in Congress.
“Frankly, I just don’t think this is sustainable,” Peterson told MPR’s Morning Edition. “[The Blue Dog coalition] made some changes, but I read the bill, and there are just things in [...]

An unsafe Larkin Township bridge that’s been closed for 10 months might not get replaced in time for farmers to cross with their fall harvest, even though a contractor got the job in June. The presence of two endangered species — the Topeka Shiner minnow and the tree swallow – delayed work at first. Now the [...]

The plight of Minnesota’s dairy farmers occupied the time of Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Reps. Tim Walz, Collin Peterson and James Oberstar, who worked this week to find relief for farmers hard hit by economic and natural disaster. That and other highlights from Minnesota’s congressional delegation inside.

The Blue Dog Democrats have been wielding quite a bit of clout up on Capitol Hill lately. Earlier this month President Obama was feting them at the White House. Just today they successfully bargained with the House leadership to slice $100 billion off the health-care-reform package and delay any vote until after the August recess. [...]

The Republican Party of Minnesota released a new radio ad today targeting U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson over recent comments explaining why he doesn’t hold town meetings. The ad, titled “Out of Touch,” will run on radio stations in the Seventh Congressional District.

A report by Politico on Monday examined the Republican party’s problem with “birthers,” people who don’t think President Obama is a United States citizen. For balance, Politico asked Rep. Collin Peterson about left-leaning 9/11 conspiracies. Peterson says conspiracy theorists keep him from holding town meetings.
“Twenty-five percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were [...]

Minnesota’s congressional delegation spent a lot of time discussing health care this week, but there were other issues to deal with. Railroads, grasslands, student loans and peace in the Middle East all garnered attention from Minnesota’s members of Congress.