Monday will be a day for Minnesota voters to see Congress in action.
Monday, the House is not in session but two Members of Congress will be working in Minnesota.
Working will be Jon Runyon (R-NJ-03) and Tim Walz (D-MN-01).
The House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs (DAMA) will hold a Field Hearing at the Fillmore County Courthouse in Preston Minnesota
There will be four panels including representatives the federal government and local counties … as well as Minnesota State Senator Jeremy Miller (R-SD-31). Senator Miller, a first term Senator, was recently asked about the challenges and successes :
“The biggest frustration I have is the political divide,” answered Miller. “It’s the worst it’s ever been in Minnesota, and it’s even worse in Washington.”
Miller went over some of the positive things that he has been a part of in helping Minnesota while he has been in the senate. Legislature passed for the Veteran’s Cemetery that will be located outside of Preston. “We have done everything we can at the state level,” said Miller. The topic will be going to the federal government for grant money, and Miller said they hope to have it completed next year.
Kudos to Representatives Runyan and Walz for holding the hearing in Minnesota and listening to our local officials.
This is not the first time that Representatives Runyan and Walz have held field hearings together … most recently in Toms River New Jersey examining the VA compensation and pension exam system.
Have hope, Senator Miller, Republicans and Democrats can work together … but it takes the right people.
Monday, will also be the day that John Kline (R-MN-02) will be holding a “Jobs Fair” from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Eagan Community Center.
Well, Chairman Kline wants to title it as a Jobs Fair, but the detail describes the Businesses, Schools, and Assistance Organizations scheduled to attend.
The list includes :
Argosy University, Twin Cities
Brown College
Capella University
Dakota County Technical College
DeVry University
Empire Education Group/ Empire Beauty Schools
Everest Institute
Hennepin Technical College
Interstate Truck Driving School
Inver Hills Community College
ITT Technical Institute
New Horizon Academy
Normandale Community College
Rasmussen College
South Central College- Faribault & North Mankato
The Art Institutes International Minnesota
The University of Phoenix
If the list looks familiar, checkout some of Chairman Kline’s financial contributors to his re-election efforts.
Norm Ornstein, a Minnesota-born political scientist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, explained why politicians are organizing job fairs — “It’s for the obvious reasons. What better way do you have to show that you are concerned about unemployment and trying to do something about it.”
Ornstein reasoned that job fairs are a much safer venue than engaging voters at Town Hall meetings or Congressional Field Hearings.
“It’s much better to show that you’re visible and active in the community by doing a neutral job fair, where no one’s going to be asking you tough and embarrassing questions,” Ornstein said.
Further, the problem is that job fairs rarely lead to job offers.
“Job fairs are usually not a great way for people to match up with companies,” said John Challenger, CEO of the big outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
Challenger said 150 human resources executives his firm surveyed in 2009 ranked job fairs as the least effective way to search for a job.
So John Kline will create a “pat-on-the-back” headline for holding a Job Fair while Jon Runyan and Tim Walz work for Veterans.
