DM&E Update: Here's a Scorecard to Keep Track of Who's Lined Up for Powder River Bowl
The football season ends but politics remains with us forever. For both it's usually a simple matter of the good guys vs. the bad guys, my team vs. your team, Colts vs. Bears, Republicans vs. Democrats. Not so with the all the hoopla surrounding a proposed $2.3 billion federal loan for a struggling Midwestern railroad called the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern, also known as the DM&E.
This issue has been well covered on Minnesota Monitor, in the mainstream media and on various blogs.
This complex issue has caused intra-party rifts, pitting Republicans and Democrats in South Dakota vs. Democrats and Republicans in Minnesota. The divide has not broken down politically but by state and economic interests. On one side is the railroad, big agriculture, the South Dakota congressional delegation and many rural communities. On the other is the Mayo Clinic, ranchers in Wyoming and South Dakota, the Minnesota congressional delegation, taxpayer watchdog and environmental groups, and the largest city along the route.
But the best way to tell the players in any game is to have a scorecard. So Minnesota Monitor and Vox Verax are now offering the exclusive DM&E Powder River Bowl game scorecard below. Get out your scissors, folks -- this one's a keeper.
| DM&E "Coal-busters" | On the sidelines | Mayo Clinic "Healers" | |
| Coach | Kevin Schieffer, CEO, DM&E | George W. Bush, President, United States | Glenn Forbes, CEO, Mayo Clinic |
| Offensive backfield |
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| Offensive line |
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*Currently negotiating or renegotiating agreements with the DM&E. **Has expressed reservations about DM&E's intention to ship coal via Iowa, Chicago & Eastern (IC&E) lines in northern Iowa. IC&E is a wholly-owned DM&E subsidiary. |
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Labels: DM and E
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3 Comments:
Why does every DM&E detractor say they are a struggling railroad> DM&E is not struggling financially - the health of the company has never been better - even if DM&E doesn't receive its FRA loan. What DM&E has accomplished in twenty years on the condition of their physical plant is nothing short of remarkable. C&NW wanted to abandon the DM&E route 25 years ago and C&NW - the 8th largest railroad in 1995 - was merged out of existence. And yet, the DM&E still survives where C&NW never thought possible. That is because DM&E is a well run company.
Let's hope DM&E receives its FRA loan so we can all share in more reliable railroad service for our energy and farm economies!
Great Scoreboard ... it's good to see the line-up.
A few others for your consideration which I would put firmly on the side of the HEALERS:
- The people of Brookings SD who after all on Nov. 9, 2006 the voters rejected a community partnership agreement with the DM&E by a margin of 56 to 44 %.
- Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN) and Congressman Jeff Flake (AZ) who both spoke out on the House floor against this loan.
It’s somewhat “Late-Bandwagon-Jumpers” that Coleman and Pawlenty are on the Healer side … when they have stayed so far on the sideline when they should have been doing more … or at least something. Nonetheless, glad to have them.
Regarding PATRICK DEMPSEY’s comment : Would you provide the financial records that you cite since DM&E is a private company which I believe has many International Investors and has refused to reveal its financial performance?
As a fiscal conservative, what is the fairness in setting up a loan program that only one company can benefit ? Manipulation by Sen. Thune in thet middle of the night changes to SAFETEA-LU bill is how the provision for the DM&E loan went from $3.5Billion to $35Billion. If the new proposed loan to DM&E is approved, it would hold 91 percent of the loan portfolio.
PATRICK, please read my commentaries include some very good comments by readers
Click Here
Click Here
Click Here
Click Here
Click Here
If this was such a good financial deal, then DM&E would not need to go to the government for a loan. For years, this was not considered to be a good investment and if it wasn't for Thune, the taxpayers would not be involved.
If the tracks were running south instead of east, I would feel the same way ... fiscal conservatives do not want the government to pick one company over others. A tax investment credit may be an acceptable inducement, but not a loan.
Mr Hall - I cannot produce DM&E figures to verify my claims. I don't work for DM&E and don't know anyone who does. What I can tell you is that I work in the utility business at Accenture in Mpls and have worked for both Wisconsin Public Service in Green Bay and Wisconsin Electric in Milwaukee and as part of those employments have worked with rail shipping concerns. My perspective is unique and independent - a perspective that neither David Strom, Walter Mondale, Ruth Johnson, Norm Colemans nor Leigh Pomeroy have - which is why I am so vocal about my support for DM&E.
Leigh has a point that DM&E should just remain as a Class II railroad and expand slowly over time from within. The problem with that is that both UP and BNSF are concentrating operations out west to capture the east asia imports. This is causing a lapse in service around here - especially at coal plants. The time is now to put forth this expansion.
David Strom's philosophy - government shouldn't be in the business of picking winners and losers - is pure hutzpah. Railroads have to compete with government funded infrastructure such as highways, waterways and airports. The FRA loan pool came in to existence because government previously (and inadvertently) picked winners (OTR, waterway and air transport) and losers (the railroads) because railroads were the only transportation industry to maintain its own infrastructure. By 1980, there were, I think 6 Class I railroad companies in receivership. Remember the Rock Island? She was liquidated in 1980. Can you imagine if NWA or Delta were liquidated rather than emerge from bankruptcy in 2007? The government leveled the playing field between air/OTR/waterway transport and rail transport by creating the FRA loan pool. Imagine if the OTR industry had to own the highway system, waysides, road painting, construction, and remaining infrastructure? Oh, they don't. Imaging barge companies having to own the locks and dredging equipment and have to maintain levees? Oh, they don't. Imagine FedEx and UPS having to own the airports and hire the air-traffic personnel and handlers and other support personnel? Oh, they don't. Imagine if railroads had to maintain their own rails, ballast, buildings, ties, and other physical plant components? Oh, they DO!
Well, rather than re-create the wheel, I will just point you to my blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-vdTOS6c1fqsw2rV83UZQ
Read my 12/28/2006 installment.
My intention is not to change anyone's mind about the DM&E issue, but rather to put forth a different perspective not being discussed among the public because Mayo Clinic has a huge funding machine grinding out a lot of misstatements and falsehoods that people are just accepting without question.
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