MN-03 Star Tribune no endorsement based upon EFCA lie and poor research

The Minneapolis Star Tribune came out with their endorsement in the MN-03 race to replace Jim Ramstad. They decided not to endorse between the trio of Democrat Ashwin Madia, Republican Erik Paulsen and Independent David Dillon. They diss both Dillon and Paulsen, but cite the EFCA lies they have propogated as one their reason for disliking Madia.

All three candidates in the race to replace Republican Jim Ramstad in the Third District are competent. But none inspired the critical mass of confidence required for our endorsement.
(Strib)

Considering they endorsed Obama and had no problem with his healthcare plan, criticizing Madia for supporting the same basic plan is disingenuous. Furthermore, Madia believes in a pay-as-you-go fiscal responsibility and details how every spending plan is offset.

At the same time, we can't quite shake concerns that Madia's knowledge of key issues is wide, but not deep enough. Health care reform requires more than the efficiencies he emphasizes. His call for more education funding is good, but money alone won't solve school ills. And how does this new funding square with his call to cut spending?

At the last debate, Madia was less polished on policy than his two rivals and repeated an error made in his endorsement interview -- that the Employee Free Choice Act would not allow a unionization drive to bypass a secret ballot.
(Strib)

The problem isn't Ashwin's "knowledge of the issues", but the Strib's combination of conservative bent, poor coverage of this race, lack of research and repeating debunked Republican lies.

The EFCA lies are the easiest to debunk. The main thing that the EFCA does is prevent employers from harassing and intimidating employees trying to unionize. The kernel of the Republican lies revolves on card check voting. The Republicans and the Strib claim that by allowing card check votes, secret voting will be prevented.

The truth couldn't be further from their claim. When employees are trying to unionize, they can choose any kind of voting they want. They could choose a secret ballot, card checks or whatever. What Republicans strenuously oppose is the severe penalties for harassment and intimidation.

Barack Obama's healthcare plan is very similar to Ashwin's. Ashwin frequently mentions this. When the Strib endorsed Obama, they failed to criticize him for it.

There are numerous key policy differences, and in many cases Obama offers progressive and pragmatic ideas. His proposals on the economy, health care, energy independence, education, the environment and infrastructure investment -- while far from perfect -- offer an intelligent framework for progress.
(Strib)

Let's be straight on this issue, healthcare is a complex issue that if you do not believe in single payer healthcare, does not provide a bumper sticker answer that the Strib seemed to want from Ashwin but not from Obama. Obama's is a "intelligent framework for progress" while Ashwin's proposals "requires more than the efficiencies he emphasizes." Apparently, the Strib is unwilling to believe the Mayo Clinic.

Doctors at Mayo have found that alternative billing practices and the expansion of preventative and primary care can lower health care costs by as much as 10 percent. Such policies would save as much as $200 billion dollars nationwide across all payers - easily enough money to afford extending coverage to the uninsured. Payment reform will mean rewarding states like Minnesota, which have the highest-quality care and using care coordination to prevent the most expensive chronic conditions.
(madiaforcongress.com/issues/healthcare)

Finally, Ashwin education proposal. He held a press conference to detail his comprehensive plans for education. Apparently, the Strib missed it. Probably because they do not have enough reporters to adequately cover Minnesota politics ... those lay-offs are hurting now, eh?

Ashwin talked about funding early childhood education, fully funding or scrapping No Child Left Behind, adequately funding special needs education, how to make college affordable and described how to do this without adding to the deficit.

NEW COMMITMENTS THAT WON'T BUST THE BUDGET
Ashwin Madia is a strong supporter of balancing the budget and his education proposals will be budget neutral. His proposals for college affordability cost approximately $7 billion per year and the full funding of NCLB and IDEA would cost approximately $14 billion per year.

Madia would pay for these initiatives by consolidating existing education credits ($2B); cutting wasteful subsidies for private student loans ($6B); getting rid of education earmarks($2B); and eliminating tax breaks for companies that shift jobs overseas ($11B).
(Madia Press Release)