Vice President makes campaign stop in MN

Vice President Dick Cheney paid a visit to Minneapolis and St. Paul on Monday, Feb. 23, the same day President Bush began focusing on his re-election campaign.

Cheney gave a 22-minute speech to 250 listeners at a $1,000 dollar-per-plate luncheon at a ballroom in downtown Minneapolis.

Cheney praised the Bush administration’s response to Sept. 11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also touted Bush’s economic plan as a viable way for the United States to recover from its economic woes. Cheney denounced Senate Democrats’ plans to block federal judiciary nominations as “an abuse of constitutional procedure.” He also assured the audience that the Bush ticket would carry Minnesota.

Cheney followed his Minneapolis stop with a visit to St. Paul’s El Burrito Mercado. He concluded the day with a fundraiser in Wichita, Kan.

These three events raised $400,000 for the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign, which has already raised $150 million.

Minnesota has not voted Republican in a presidential election since Richard Nixon in 1972 and is expected to be a key state in this November’s presidential election. George Bush was 58,607 votes away from carrying the state in 2000.

Representative John Kline (R-Minn.) told the audience at Cheney’s lunch fundraiser that it would see a “very visible campaign here between now and Nov. 2.”

According to Mac Republicans member Kramer Lawson ’05, no Mac Republicans attended the event.
 

City urges planning as bus strike approaches

Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents more than 2,000 Metro Transit employees, sent a letter of intent to strike to the Metropolitan Council and the Bureau of Mediation Services last week.

The strike could begin as early as Mar. 2.

A 10-day cooling off period began when the union sent the letter. Following this period, there is a 20-day window in which to begin a strike.

In the event of a strike, there will be no regular bus service. Metro Transit will continue its Metro Mobility service for the elderly and some routes in the suburbs will continue to run.

City officials urged residents to begin making alternate transportation arrangements in the event that a strike occurs.

Those wishing to arrange carpools should visit www.metrocommuterservices .com, a web site that matches people living in adjacent areas who need rides.

The pending strike will affect the 220,000 people Metro Transit serves. Of these, 72,600 do not have a car. An estimated 40 percent of workers in downtown Minneapolis and 20 percent of workers in downtown St. Paul rely on Metro Transit to travel to and from work.

The possible strike has also delayed the opening of the Light Rail in Minneapolis.