An Afternoon with MY Two Senators

[Angry Dragon]

August 16, 2011 I went to a dedication to start laying over 100 miles of fiber optics in Carver County in Minnesota. A $7.5 million project with a $6 million grant from the federal government. The reason I went was because both Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Al Franken were both scheduled to be there. And they were.

They both gave speeches, nothing too deep, just talked about giving rural communities a chance to compete with the world. The reason I went was to talk to my senators about other things.

Things I noticed while there. A couple of people where silently protesting the the cost of the project by holding up signs during the speeches. Their position was that fiber optics would be replaced in ten years by wireless and the county could not cover the cost of the interest on the $1 million loan they would have to take out. I have not studied the project so I could not guess if they were correct or not. Their aim is to connect all the schools, city halls, police, fire, libraries, etc within the county. And then have the public and businesses connect to it.

After the speeches one man was giving Franken grief because VP Biden had called him a terrorist. I would guess the man was a teabagger.

After the speeches I was standing with a few other people whether taxes should be raised on the more wealthy and one man raised his voice a little. He was advocating for more taxes. He was not yelling just a slightly raised voice. A policeman came over and told us we would have to lower our voices or be asked to leave. I guess some others could hear us and they were bothered by the discussion. I guess in Carver County you can protest and discuss as long as no one hears you.

I finally talked to Klobuchar and told her that I did not like it that my phone calls and e-mails were never responded to except for maybe a form letter once in a while. Franken had left soon after the speeches so I was unable to talk to him. I hope to catch him at the fair.

Anyone from Minnesota know when Klobuchar, Franken and Kline are going to be at the fair this year??

That is my story and I am sticking to it.................

[mascarax]

1. What did Amy reply?

And when I have gotten a reply this year, it's always monthS later. I think her staff only does the form letters when they realize her election is coming up the next year.

Good for you for going and talking to Sen. Klobuchar.

Regarding the silent protestors, there is a substantial difference in the bandwidth available in the 2 technologies. Plus the fiber optics should be more secure than wireless. Plus it's here today. But then, if you're part of the SW Metro TeaParty (who hold their meetings in a govt-funded building), you might not know that.

[Angry Dragon]

3. She was pleasant

Took my name and I told them I was already in their system

she has a really cute assistant ............

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. Last year they both had booths at the fair

but I don't know their actual schedules. You might try their websites.

[dflprincess]

4. Check with the DFL as well

they usually drop by the DFL booth as well as their own. I really hate Klobuchar's booth. It looks like a little house and they have it rigged so if Amy or a member is on the "front porch" the proletariat either has to try and balance on the sloping boulevard or in the street looking up at a fairly sharp angle to speak to whoever is looking down from the porch.

The backside of the booth is better but when you approach the staff they usually just have you fill out a card with what your concern is and your contact information and they make it pretty clear they aren't interested in anything you have to say (Franken's people are not like this). Then they toss the card in a big cardboard box. I've often wondered if they wait until they're off the fairgrounds to throw them in a dumpster.

[Mnpaul]

5. Wireless will never replace fiber

There is no way to match the speed. The fiber will be cheaper/faster than the T1 lines they currently use. It is needed to tranfer large files from city hall to city hall. A private firm will sell excess bandwidth to the consumer. I can't wait. I currently have Frontier service and they have a monopoly so they charge a forture for crappy DSL.