Patrick Condon has an interesting quote in a story about the Amy Klobuchar – Kurt Bills US Senate contest from Mr. Bills campaign manager, Mike Osskopp.

Osskopp and other GOP critics in Minnesota think Klobuchar is popular because she played it safe. She has avoided controversial issues and tough challenges, they argue, to instead pursue non-controversial matters of consumer affairs and child safety. “She’s championed a couple consumer protection things — pool drains safety and Happy Meal toys and crap like that,” Osskopp said.

The story goes onto offer the Klobuchar spin :

In her first term, Klobuchar amassed a decent list of achievements. Besides pushing a handful of consumer protection and food safety initiatives that made it into law, Klobuchar helped get policy improvements for veterans, a crackdown on synthetic drugs and federal money for a long-sought new bridge over the St. Croix River at Stillwater.
Klobuchar has the support of several Republicans in Minnesota whose business interests were wrapped up in congressional action. Several interviewed for this story said they voted against Klobuchar in 2006, but have since become enthusiastic supporters and even donors.
“I don’t remember the last time I voted for a Democrat. But I will be voting for Sen. Klobuchar,” said Paul Walser, CEO of Walser Automotive, which owns 15 Minnesota car dealerships. In 2008, when General Motors was near collapse and closing many U.S. dealerships, Walser said Klobuchar gave personal attention to his successful bid to preserve a location in Bloomington.
Bill Hawkins, the former CEO of Medtronic, said he donated money to Kennedy in 2006 but will vote for Klobuchar this year. He was won over by her work to reduce a tax on medical devices that was part of President Obama’s health-care bill.
“My friends who are in banking, many CEOs in Minneapolis have similar stories about how she has been personally so engaged and helpful,” Hawkins said. While most politicians he’s dealt with communicate largely through deputies and assistants, Hawkins said, “She’s at the front door.”

Considering the filibuster and hold rules of the Senate, getting any legislation requires either a self-imposed emergency or true bi-partisanship … sometimes overcoming hurdles within one’s own party.

Yet, Senator Klobuchar can point to a number of issues where she has advanced legislation … case in point, the Farm Bill that will expire September 30th. Being part of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Klobuchar pushed the US Senate to approve a new five-year bill on June 21st by a vote of 64-35 (voting in favor were 15 Republicans). It would eliminate direct subsidies to farmers, establish a crop insurance program, consolidate 23 conservation programs into 13, provide disaster relief and streamline the food stamp program, cutting $4 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (which benefits for low-income people predominately seniors and toddlers) and in total, it would shave $23.6 billion off the deficit over the next decade.
(Side note : During an August debate at the FarmFest, wanna-be Senator Bills said he would not have voted for the farm bill.)

But that legislation is just the Senate’s version … there is also the House’s version. For that, the House Agriculture Committee completed their work on July 11, passing a new 5-year bill by a 35-11 bipartisan vote providing certainty for American agriculture and assistance during this period of drought.

But that’s were it has died … as the Republican leadership has refused to bring it up for a vote — the House instead focused on messaging bills that are going nowhere.
(Side note : Despite having a large segment of the Second District reliant on agriculture, the FarmFestcrowd was informed by Moderator Tom Rothman that “Congressman John Kline refused the invite from FarmFest” … although his challenger (who happens to have been raised on a dairy farm), Mike Obermueller did participate. Mike Obermueller said :
“The inaction on the Farm Bill is just another example of a Congress where both sides refuse to work together to get things done. If Congressman Kline was here today, I would ask him why he isn’t urging his leadership to put the Farm Bill to a floor vote. Instead, he voted to adjourn for the August recess. This is a perfect example of exactly what’s wrong in Washington today.”)

Thus to use Mr. Osskopp vernacular it’s “crap like that” that makes being a Senator difficult … first dealing within your own party and then getting the other party to go along.

The House does not have that problem … there are not filibuster rules … the Party Leadership decides what bills it wants to vote on … which prompts an opportunity for John Kline (R-MN-02) to explain what legislation -“crap” and those that address the “tough challenges” he has championed.

Well, this session, there is one bill that Mr. Kline has sponsored and has become law.
When the Minnesota National Guard Brigade Combat Team (BCT) known as the “Red Bulls” returned from their deployment, they were “rewarded” with a big cut in their paid readjustment leave, known as “post deployment / mobilization respite absence” (PDMRA) leave. Some of the “Red Bull” combat veterans stood to lose about 24 days PDMRA leave … Mr. Kline and Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced companion bills in the Senate and House (S. 2121 and H.R. 4045) to correct this … the House version was passed on a voice vote and the Senate version was approved unanimously.
How much credit does Senator Klobuchar deserve for this ? Is that part of the “non-controversial crap” mentioned by Mr. Osskopp ? For that matter, wouldn’t any Member of the House representing the “Red Bulls”, push for the same legislation … and get the same results ? IMO, Mike Obermueller would have done the same thing.

Thus, Representative Kline can show one bill that he can claim as an accomplishment but it seems like it wasn’t a “tough challenge”.

There are some other bills that do not seem to be that controversial that Mr. Kline has championed … like the Marine Corps Aviation Centennial Commemorative Coin Act (H.R. 1621) which is still tied up in the House Financial Services Committee.
But coins isn’t the only controversial area of concern for Mr. Kline … he is the prime sponsor of H.R.3981 – Honoring Our Nation’s Outstanding Rifle Squads Act – which in Congressional shorthand is known as HONOR Act … that bill is tied up in the House Armed Services Committee … which should be a little embarrassing for Mr. Kline since he is a Member of that committee.

But Mr. Kline is not just a Member of Congress … Mr. Kline is the powerful Chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee. In that responsibility, he can direct legislation through committee and work with Republican Leadership to push onto the Senate.

For that, let’s look at the two main legislative goals — Jobs and reforming No Child Left Behind.

One key element in the current jobs problem is the skills gap where workers do not possess the skills needed for today’s jobs. Chairman Kline recognizes that and complains about the redundancy in programs. His solution is HR 4297 – The Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 which his committee approved in June, but it would be up to Majority Leader Cantor to order a vote by the full House … which has not been done.

Regarding education reform, Chairman Kline has split that into five pieces of legislation :

H.R. 1891 SETTING NEW PRIORITIES IN EDUCATION SPENDING ACT
Introduced 5/13/2011
Approved by Committee 6/14/2011 by a vote of 23-16
House Status : Waiting for the Republican-managed House to authorize debate and final passage.

H.R. 2218 EMPOWERING PARENTS THROUGH QUALITY CHARTER SCHOOLS ACT
Introduced 6/16/2011
Approved by Committee 7/22/2011 by a vote of 34-5
Approved by House on 9/13/2011 by a vote of 365-54
Awaiting Senate Bill (most likely S 1566)

H.R. 2445 STATE AND LOCAL FUNDING FLEXIBILITY ACT
Introduced 7/7/2011
Approved by Committee 7/25/2011 by a vote of 23-17
House Status : Waiting for the Republican-managed House to authorize debate and final passage.

H.R. 3989 STUDENT SUCCESS ACT
Introduced 2/9/2012
Approved by Committee 2/28/2012 by a vote of 23-16
House Status : Waiting for the Republican-managed House to authorize debate and final passage

H.R. 3990 ENCOURAGING INNOVATION AND EFFECTIVE TEACHERS ACT
Introduced 2/9/2012
Approved by Committee 2/28/2012 by a vote of 23-16
House Status : Waiting for the Republican-managed House to authorize debate and final passage

Here’s the funny thing … look at the dates … many of these critical pieces of legislation have been around since 2011 … a period of time when Mike Osskopp was on Mr. Kline’s Congressional staff.

For the voters of the Second District they would like to hear about the “crap” that John Kline is promoting as Accomplishments, Opportunities and Failures for the past two years and what a Kurt Bills- John Kline tandem could accomplish in the next two years.

Senator Klobuchar seems to have made converts … John Kline seems to be peddling “crap”.