Hot Dish 7.12.24
Plus: Legislative Auditor calls out Walz administration’s “shoot-the-messenger” approach to fraud concerns.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
July 12, 2024 at 3:48PM
By Rochelle Olson
Sorry for the delay. We’ve had technical issues since 8:30 a.m.
When last we gathered, it was the Friday morning after President Biden’s debate performance. And now it’s the morning after another defining moment. Three words: Vice President Trump. Biden misspoke in response to the first question about the vice president’s readiness to step up. He didn’t correct himself, but he later delivered on the line, saying Vice President Kamala Harris is ready for the job.
A reporter shouted out a question about the Vice President Trump misstatement at the end of the press conference, “Trump is using that to mock your age and memory.” Biden responded, “Listen to him.” (IDK who the him is. Trump?)
Biden did that throat clearing thing again throughout the news conference. Does he not hydrate? Or maybe try a throat lozenge, sir. He also said he’s been going full bore since the debate, asks what Trump’s been doing, “riding on his golf cart, filling out his scorecard before he hits the ball.”
He was up there for nearly an hour, saying he’s in it to finish the job. The moment didn’t dull the drumbeat of Democrats seeking a replacement.
FEEDING FRAUD: Colleagues Ryan Faircloth and Briana Bierschbach explored the question of whether Gov. Tim Walz and his administration are taking on fraud as forcefully as they ought to when millions are lost to bad actors. The state’s nonpartisan watchdog Legislative Auditor Judy Randall told the reporters she’s noticed state agencies becoming less receptive to criticism. “I have seen increasing rejection of our findings and recommendations. Or denial or dismissiveness or excuses,” she said. “There’s definitely a shoot-the-messenger feeling.”
Asked whether Walz’s office takes the concerns seriously, Randall said, “I think they’re very concerned about what our reports will say. I don’t know about making changes thereafter.”
Note that Randall is not one to say anything she can’t back up ten times.
What did Walz say for the story? Nada. His office declined an interview request and provided a statement saying agencies have implemented many of the auditor’s suggestions, but sometimes “we may fundamentally disagree.”
NURSING HOME WOES: Colleague Josie Albertson-Grove talks to care providers about why nursing homes struggle — and it’s more complicated than some Republicans would have you believe. Staffing and pay have been challenges for years, said Toby Pearson, president and CEO of Care Providers of Minnesota, a trade group for nursing homes. But for Minnesota nursing homes, one of the biggest problems is how long it takes the state to reimburse for care, Pearson told Albertson-Grove.
State Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, said he thought more one-time aid to nursing homes in 2023 could have staved off closure of the sole nursing home in Arlington, Minn.
POLICE ENDORSED: Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud, received the endorsement of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA). The organization represents 10,700 police and corrections officers, dispatchers and firefighters across the state as well as 2,000 retirees. The endorsement is significant because a year ago, Wolgamott was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol.
(The GOP candidate for the swing district seat is Sue Ek, who says she’s running to provide balance at the Capitol.)
SYDNEY’S DC DISH: Congress voted on hot button bills this week and the Minnesota delegation split on party lines across all bills. The House wants to to add more proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. Minnesota’s four U.S. House Republicans voted in favor. Biden has expressed opposition.
The House rejected a Republican-led effort that would have fined Attorney General Merrick Garland $10,000 a day until he provides audio of his interview of Biden in the classified documents case. Minnesota Democrats voted no and the bill failed 204-210.
The House passed a bill on Thursday to repeal a Biden-era Title IX rule that “prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs or activities.” Republicans say the bill would allow transgender women and girls to compete in women’s sports. The bill passed 210-205 with Minnesota Republicans in support.
FALL OF THE MINNEAPOLIS CLUB: Some retired journalists, including former Star Tribune political writer Dane Smith are troubled that Liz Collin of Alpha News is receiving an award for her film claiming Derek Chauvin was railroaded into a conviction for murdering George Floyd. The propaganda film is receiving a purported journalism award from a group called the Caux Roundtable for Moral Capitalism led by long-ago GOP candidate Stephen B. Young. Yes, an award ceremony for a film about the demise of Minneapolis is being held in the old-time heart of Minneapolis. Young praised Collin’s candor. (Note that she wasn’t entirely candid given she didn’t disclose her marriage to the former head of the city’s police union.) Anyway, lunch is $15 all inclusive which seems to be a decent price — unless it’s the club’s bean soup. Or choose your own lunch adventure and re-read Minnesota Reformer reporter Deena Winter’s excellent story about the film she watched so we don’t have to. Winter covered the trial gavel-to-gavel as well as events before, during and after so yeah, she knows of what she writes.
WHERE’S WALZ:
He’s on Mountain Time in Salt Lake City at the National Governors Association where he and other governors will meet privately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy late this morning.
VEEP note: In the past 100 years, three governors have been VP: Spiro Agnew (Maryland), Nelson Rockefeller (NY) and Mike Pence (Indiana).
READING LIST
- Be the kind of person whose death causes a colleague to weep on the radio which is what Fred Melo of the Pioneer Press did as he spoke on MPR Thursday afternoon about the late columnist Ruben Rosario, who retired four years ago and died this week. Strib columnist Laura Yuen explained as only she can why Rosario was a community treasure. In a culture of self-aggrandizing blowhards, Rosario was a megaphone for the vulnerable.
- In Minneapolis, tensions increase between restaurant workers and owners as city proposes a labor board. Susan Du has the story.
- A new era of leadership has begun for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, according to my birthday buddy and fellow Scorpio Kim Hyatt. Sign up for her Lakes Country newsletter that debuted Thursday. It’s free and she’ll make you think.
- ROGUE ROCKY: Lagniappe or politics adjacent? St. Paul-based author Julie Schumacher, who is married to Larry Jacobs, founder of the Center for Politics and Governance at the U, wrote an ode to her 30 years of correspondence with her late friend Melissa Bank, author of the “Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing.” If you’re anywhere near my age, you devoured that book when it came out.
- My heirloom tomato guy at the Mill City Farmers Market assures there will be tomatoes for real this week. He’s also a melon guy and you know he’s good when both Laura Yuen and our retired food writer Rick Nelson have written about him. We are approaching the days of peak seasonal abundance so get thee to a weekend market or two. Farmers need our support and also, yum.
- I’ll be back writing Monday’s Hot Dish because there’s no rest for the wicked. And ICYMI, once again, my book review of “Long Island Compromise.” Author Taffy Brodesseur-Akner’s in town next week. Good lord that woman can write.
- Keep us posted at hotdish@startribune.com.
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