Albert Lea Tribune: Letter to the Editor
Published Friday, August 29, 2008
On March 29 the 1st District Republican Convention, comprising 22 Minnesota counties, was held in Albert Lea. At that time the convention held an election between two candidates with Dr. Brian Davis being endorsed as the 1st District’s candidate for U.S. House of Representatives
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Those of us in District 1 have the opportunity this November of electing a remarkable candidate to the U.S. Congress. Davis is a man with high moral standards, a brilliant mind, and a commitment to using these talents for his country in solving our many problems.
Davis is currently a physician of radiation oncology at the Mayo Clinic. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Illinois and received a degree in nuclear engineering in 1982, then given a one-year scholarship to attend college in West Germany. He was hired by an engineering firm in Chicago working on the design and licensing of nuclear power plants. Davis then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering with biomedical specialization. He later received his medical degree with special training in radiation oncology in New York City.
In these days when energy and health care are huge problems, here is a man who truly has the knowledge and education to contribute realistically to their solution. Davis has laid out his ideas clearly on national security, illegal immigration, energy, health care, spending and taxes. He has expertise in all of these areas.
To those of you who are hungry for a congressman with superior qualifications, knowledge, integrity and leadership, Brian Davis is your man. Just hearing him speak the first time convinced me that he’s the one to elect in the primary against unendorsed candidate Dick Day on Sept. 9 and later in the November election. Davis is truly a remarkable man.
A quote from Brian Davis, “Our next congressman needs to understand America’s energy crisis and have the vision to implement a meaningful change in our nation’s energy problems.”
Dorothy Erlandson
Albert Lea
Friday, August 29, 2008
Brian Davis is superior candidate in District 1
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Family Will Enjoy Convention Together: Fairmont Sentinel
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Brian Davis for Congress: Television Ad
Brian Davis for Congress Releases Their First Television Ad
Davis: Criticizes Walz for voting to adjourn congress while energy legislation is stalled
For Immediate Release
August 26, 2008
Contact: Brad Biers
651.261.2182
(Rochester, MN) - Today, the Brian Davis for Congress campaign announced the release of its first television ad. The ad focuses on the issue of high gas prices and Congressman Tim Walz' lack of support for increasing domestic oil exploration and drilling. The campaign is running the ad across the First Congressional District from August 25 until the Primary Election on September 9th.
"As I've campaigned across southern Minnesota, I hear time and again that the high cost of gas and diesel fuel are at the top of the list of voters' concerns," said Davis. "It's clear that high fuel costs are undermining the health of our economy and that people are suffering. In the short time he's been in Congress, Mr. Walz has voted eleven times against an expansion of drilling or allowing Congress to even consider it for debate. He simply isn't getting the job done for residents of our District."
Brian Davis, the endorsed Republican candidate in Minnesota's First Congressional District faces a primary challenge on September 9th. He and his wife Lori live in Rochester where they are raising their four children.
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Letter to the editor: Mankato Free Press
Your View: Democrats are no better
By Wayne Comstock, North Mankato
August 19, 2008
The Democrats were elected in 2006 to a majority position in the U.S. Senate and House. It was the result of a failed Republican leadership. They promised to immediately provide a new and progressive leadership. We have since only seen lockstep partisanship and unyielding negativity.
Rep. Tim Walz, D, 1st District, has been in Washington for less than two years and he’s already rolling over to the failed House leadership. With the nation in energy crisis, important pending energy legislation was disallowed a vote by the Democrats (Roll call vote 537). Instead of taking care of critical legislative business Waltz and his party voted to adjourn and go home for a 5 week break. No wonder they only have a 17 percent approval rating.
Instead of debating energy crisis legislation, Walz now brings up a diversionary legislative proposal to reduce deficits and cut taxes on the middle class. He plans to accomplish this by raising taxes on higher incomes and closing certain corporation loopholes? Higher corporate taxes always lead to higher prices for their products and job layoffs. Who ends up paying for the consequences of higher corporate taxes? We do.
Walz also flaunts a stringer of 47 earmark legislative bills for 2009. Transparent or not, earmark legislation is one of the major causes of deficit budgets. Local proponents of pet pork project funding bills are just cheering on deficit spending.
I’m disappointed with our Washington representatives and it only worsened as we replaced them in 2006.
They just don’t get it.
Don’t just vote for a political party or personality. Cross party lines and vote for “get it done” leaders and hold them accountable.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Open Up Oil Fields, Or Else: Letter to the editor
Vote to pen up oil fields, or else
Rochester Post Bulletin
8/5/2008 11:43:46 AM
My heating bill arrived today with an increase in my monthly even pay amount for natural gas. It's going up over $100 per month starting in July. Yep, in July.
I called the gas company to ask why. My usage has consistently gone down over the last several years, and again this year, due to a great deal of weatherizing for our home. The lady at the gas company says it's going up now because natural gas prices are expected to rise again sharply for this coming winter.
The oil fields that are not currently open to production also offer natural gas production opportunities.
If Tim Walz won't open up oil and natural gas production, then I am voting for Brian Davis. It's just that simple. I thought the gasoline situation was bad, but now I know it's only part of the story.
Muriel Hanson
Preston
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Drilling debate strikes oil in Minnesota farm country
The Republican Eagle - 08/05/2008
REDWOOD FALLS, Minn. — A southern Minnesota congressional challenger used a Tuesday farm forum to drill home his support for off-shore oil drilling.
Republican challenger Brian Davis in the 1st Congressional District, serving most of southern Minnesota, repeatedly told the FarmFest audience that opening waters off the country's coast to oil drilling would help lower farmers' energy costs. He talked about off-shore drilling when answering more than half of the farm leaders' questions at the forum.
His Republican opponent, Dick Day, also called for more drilling, but not as often as Davis.
Davis, a Mayo Clinic doctor, and state Sen. Day are locked in a Republican primary election battle. The winner of the September vote will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Walz in the November general election.
The forum came at FarmFest, an annual southwestern Minnesota gathering of farmers and agri-businessmen. Western Minnesota's 7th Congressional District and southern Minnesota's 1st district were the only ones in which all major candidates appeared.
While many speakers at FarmFest talk of saving the family farm, the often-blunt Day has his own assessment: "Whether you like it or not, the small family farm is gone."
Day and Davis were critical of new federal farm policy, but mostly because 70 percent of it has little to do with farming. Walz defended the bill.
"It made sure the safety net is there," Walz said.
However, Walz added, commodities such as crops probably could have fared better.
Day's big concern for federal farm policy is over-regulation.
"A fringe group" opposes farmers, he said, and that group should not control farm policy.
Energy was a major part of the forum discussion. Walz said he likes renewable energy standards recently put into law.
"They have done wonders," the first-term congressman said.
The standards help to encourage things like ethanol and wind power, both good for Minnesota, he said.
He also said he would accept ideas like off-shore drilling that Davis promoted. But, he added, it would only be if big oil companies did not overly profit.
Day joined Davis in calling for more oil drilling. He specifically said he supports more drilling in a controversial area of Alaska.
Davis said government regulations "messed up" the nuclear power industry. He did not specifically call for less federal regulation, but did encourage more nuclear power plants to be built.
Walz said 14 hearings he held on the farm bill shows his leadership ability.
Davis said he has traveled more than 50,000 in the southern Minnesota district, finding that more oil drilling and estate and capital gains taxes are hurting farmers.
Day promoted his time in the state Senate, where he has dealt with transportation and agriculture issues, and said he is fine with his status "a little outside the Republican Party."
Western Minnesota voters have a choice between a powerful U.S. House Agriculture Committee chairman and a second-time challenger who thinks a recently enacted farm bill falls short.
Republican challenger Glen Menze said on Tuesday that the farm bill, which sets federal agriculture policy for years, did not have enough specific "risk management" provisions such as crop insurance for farmers. The omissions are especially hard on small farmers, he said.
However, he was in the minority of Democrats and Republicans who spoke at a FarmFest forum. Most other congressional candidates praised the farm bill.
Menze's opponent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, was a major author of the legislation as ag committee chairman. Peterson presented the farm bill as a compromise that treats Minnesota farmers well.
Steve Sarvi, a Democratic challenger in the 2nd Congressional District, said young people will remain in rural Minnesota if they have economic incentive, but added: "Rural communities need to be more than just farming." His Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. John Kline, did not attend FarmFest.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Brian Davis campaigns for Congress on conservative values
Friday, August 01
By John Torgrimson
Brian Davis, a Mayo physician and researcher from Rochester is the endorsed Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in the 1st District. He is being challenged by Sen. Dick Day of Owatonna in the September primary election to run against incumbent Democratic congressman Tim Walz in November.
Davis recently spoke with Journal editor John Torgrimson about his candidacy and his stand on a range of issues. Excerpts from that conversation follows.
Journal: Why, with your background, are you choosing to run for Congress in the first district?
Davis: The change in representation in 2006. I feel like Congress was trying to take the country in the wrong direction. I believe there are solutions that need to be addressed: solutions in energy; solutions in health care. So in early 2007, I visited with state Republican leaders and I chose to run. On March 29 I won [Republican] endorsement.
Journal: When I say George Bush, what does that mean to you? Positive, negative? Good legacy?
Davis: I think we'll leave that to the historians to determine. I think some of the analogies with Harry Truman being resolute, and sometimes people even say "inflexible," but there may come a time down the road when people will look back and he [Bush] will have a stronger public perception than he does now. People in this district voted for George Bush both in 2000 and in 2004. So, I will tell you that I'm running in 2008 for the future. I don't agree with everything that he's done, but I will tell you I supported him in 2000 and 2004, as did the majority of this district.
Journal: The Iraq war?
Davis: The Iraq War is a part of our larger struggle with radical Islam, who are totally opposed to our way of life, our freedoms, our freedom of speech and freedom of the press, our ability to have this conversation and not be afraid that someone's going to knock on our door in the middle of the night and take us away. And I believe that we need to be strong against it, whether that's in Iraq or Afghanistan. But I think for us to move forward regardless of what one's opinion has been on this war we should ask the people of Iraq and Afghanistan to have a referendum and pose the question "Do you want the US military to stay or to go?" If the people vote freely in democratic elections and say 'we think it's time for the US military to go', then we can leave and hold our heads up high, we helped them put forward a democratic government, and in that respect we won the war and our military can be proud of a lot of things that have happened there.
Journal: Will there be a political settlement in Iraq?
Davis: I would like to see a political settlement in Iraq that would be based on having a referendum there. I think it's unquestionable that the change in strategy has been successful. It's bought us time, it's bought the government of Iraq time. But I don't think it's in our interest or in the interest of the countries in the Middle East to have the US government and the military leave there with the perception that we were chased out of there by a few thousand terrorists or suicide bombers. If we leave, have us leave because it was a mutual decision between the democratically elected governments, and the people of Iraq, and the United States government, not because of some partisan political contest in Washington D.C.
Journal: What about the economy?
Davis: Energy is the lifeblood of a modern economy. And the higher the cost of energy, and the more constraints the government places on energy production, the more costly it will be and people in our country will suffer economically.
Some think America would be better off if we had $5 gasoline. I don't believe that. The majority of the people of this country don't believe that. I'm in favor of clean air and clean water. In fact, our air is so much cleaner than it was 30 or 40 years ago because of the Clean Air and Water Act. You can have intelligent technology--it costs a little more but it's not such that it will shut down an industry.
Journal: Speaking of energy, what are the elements of an energy policy you think will work?
Davis: First of all, we have to realize that 85% of our energy in this country is carbon based. Coal, oil, natural gas. Throw in nuclear power, and that's the four major sources of energy. That's over 90% of the energy we use in heating, transportation and electricity and we can't turn off those switches easily. That's the bedrock, those are the pillars of energy. In Minnesota, I'm proud of the fact that we are among the leaders in the country in wind-power and ethanol. And anything we do that reduces our dependence on foreign oil is a good thing. I'm optimistic that over the long-term these forms of energy will be competitive over the open market.
Journal: You talked a little bit about oil, but I know you've been fairly outspoken about drilling. Some experts believe America doesn't have enough oil reserves to drill it's way out of it's problems. Respond to that.
Davis: I think it's doubtful that we would be in a position soon where we're independent of foreign oil. However, we're the third largest producer of oil in the world. And we need to produce more oil in this country, and if we can do it easily and readily, we should. It'll help our economy, it'll employ people, and it'll make us less dependent on foreign oil from countries that don't necessarily share our values. We still get two-thirds of our oil from North America--between Mexico, Canada, and the United States--if we can reduce that percentage of imported oil by using our own resources in an environmentally friendly manner, I'm in favor of drilling in Alaska. I think it should be done. And in off shore areas, we only have less than 5% that is open.
Journal: I've read where you're not a firm believer in climate change?
Davis: We've had climate change since the beginning of recorded history. We know there's areas right here that 13,000 years ago were glaciers. So, climate change happens. But to what extent CO2 production is responsible for the climate change we're observing is not well-quantified, not well-quantified at all. I met with an MIT professor, Richard Lindzen - he's in the National Academy of Science. He has been real outspoken that we don't know how much--if at all--we'd be able to change the climate if we shut down carbon based energy. If we stopped right now, can we predict how much we'd change the climate?
Journal: Are we doing enough as people, as Americans, as a government, to put in place conservation practices?
Davis: I don't favor mandated rationing or mandated conservation. I think that if we let people make their own personal decisions on that, then it is better. The auto makers in Detroit learned a lesson in competition regarding fuel-efficient cars. And it's harder for the government to mandate that than it is for the free enterprise system to respond.
Journal: Your website speaks strongly about conservative values.
Davis: I believe a human life and human being begin at conception. I oppose abortion, I believe we should respect and protect life. I know as a doctor and medical researcher that one does not need to destroy a human embryo to do stem cell research, that there are other sources of stem cells.
When it comes to marriage, I believe marriage should be defined as a union between one man and one woman. I would oppose civil unions if they are same sex marriage by another name.
Edits provided above by Brian in italics.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Vote to Open Oil Fields, Or Else: Rochester Post Bulletin
Letter to the Editor
Vote to pen up oil fields, or else
7/30/2008 7:32:24 AM
My heating bill arrived today with an increase in my monthly even pay amount for natural gas. It's going up over $100 per month starting in July. Yep, in July.
I called the gas company to ask why. My usage has consistently gone down over the last several years, and again this year, due to a great deal of weatherizing for our home. The lady at the gas company says it's going up now because natural gas prices are expected to rise again sharply for this coming winter.
The oil fields that are not currently open to production also offer natural gas production opportunities.
If Tim Walz won't open up oil and natural gas production, then I am voting for Brian Davis. It's just that simple. I thought the gasoline situation was bad, but now I know it's only part of the story.
Muriel Hanson
Preston
Brian Davis for Congress: Agricultural Policy
Davis and agricultural policy
Brian Davis, the GOP endorsed candidate for Congress in the First Congressional District, and his campaign's Agricultural Advisory Group, issued an Agricultural Policy Statement today, encompasing a wide range of principles including free and fair trade, protecting and improving Minnesota's water resources, estate and capital gains tax policy. It is also seeks to contrast Davis' positions on agricultural position with those of DFL Congressman Tim Walz.
