Mills glad he got off the bench and into the 8th District race

By Mike O'Rourke / Brainerd Dispatch BAXTER - Stewart Mills has seen the opposition ads with repeated film clips of him brushing back his hair and can easily joke about them, but he doesn't think they're effective. Friends at the Brainerd Family YMCA tease him and ask why they haven't been invited out on the yacht that's portrayed as the candidate's own in TV ads. The advertisements, he said, have degenerated into bullying and name calling. Their most irritating aspects are when they take statements he has made and run them out of order or out of context. "They run ads making fun of my hair rather than talking about substantive issues," he said. Every day of his 8th Congressional District campaign, he said, he hears evidence of a backlash of reaction from viewers to independent expenditure messages made by outsiders. "They know nothing about this district and they certainly know nothing about me," Mills said earlier this month at the Crow Wing County Republican Victory Office in Baxter. He said his own message of a consumer based health insurance solution and a reining in of regulatory overreach is resonating with Republicans and independents alike. "I endeavor to run a very issues focused campaign," Mills said. "Our message agrees with them." It was his own frustration with the Affordable Care Act that helped motivate the Mills Fleet Farm vice president to embark on his first run for political office. In June of 2013 he announced his candidacy to unseat Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Minn. Nolan. "It caused me to get off the bench," he said. "I'm glad I did." The 42-year-old Nisswa resident said he is for social safety nets but not for the creation of a welfare state - which is how he described Obamacare. "We should have worked on making social safety nets more complete," Mills said. He wants a health care insurance solution that's comprehensive. He said he favors the aspect of the Affordable Care Act in which people can't be rejected for insurance because of pre-existing conditions. He rejects his opponent's call for a single payer health care system. "Consumerism works," Mills said. "Socialism doesn't." Turning to foreign affairs, Mills criticized Nolan's vote in opposition to a bill that authorized arming and training of Syrian rebels. Mills noted he did not have the advantage of deliberating on that specific bill in Washington, D.C., but said he would have voted for finding partners in the Syrian conflict who were thoroughly and properly vetted. He said Nolan was on the wrong side on that foreign policy vote. "I would have voted on the other side," Mills said. "He's (Nolan's) putting his head in the sand while people are being beheaded in the Mideast." Mills said. Mills said the failure of U.S. officials to reach a status forces agreement with Iraq has led to problems. "We left," Mills said. "We created a vacuum." Back at home, Mills said the lack of federal transportation revenue is related to a sluggish economy which he termed as the "worst economic recovery in history." He said the U.S. has to stop building "bridges to nowhere" and raiding the transportation fund for light rail projects which "nobody in our part of the world utilizes." Although he said he loves the Paul Bunyan Trail, the federal government has to stop building bike paths and concentrate on funding roads and bridges. Even rail projects on the more densely populated east coast can't sustain themselves. "I think it would be foolish to put money into those projects," Mills said. The Republican endorsed congressional candidate said Enbridge Inc., which is proposing a northern Minnesota route for its Sandpiper oil pipeline that would cut across a portion of Cass County, has a good track record. Sensors monitor pressure in the pipelines for an early indicator of any problems. In cases where there have been spills, he said they have made it right. "These guys have their act together," Mills said. Mills said Enbridge's preferred route would mean about $4 million in revenue for Aitkin County alone. If one of the more indirect routes that critics are proposing is chosen, that will make the pipeline longer and extend risk for the environment, Mills said. "Every inch it's longer, that's an additional inch of risk," In Mills' opinion, selection of one of the alternate routes would effectively kill the project. A big part of Mills' message is that Nolan's positions are too extreme for the district. He says his opponent's positions are sometimes to the left of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who represents Minneapolis. When President Bill Clinton was in office he was able to get a work requirement into welfare legislation and President Ronald Reagan worked with House Speaker Tip O'Neill on tax reform, according to Mills. In contrast, Mills points to Nolan's F rating from the National Rifle Association and support for a carbon tax which, if enacted, would strangle the state's iron ore, timber and paper industries. "It would have basically shut off the economy in northern Minnesota," Mills said. Nolan voted against a measure that would have limited the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding water regulations. That bill, according to Mills, would have prevented government overreach that would have allowed bureaucracies to unilaterally make rulings that could adversely affect farmers. If elected, Mills said he would be interested in serving on transportation, agriculture and a veteran affairs committee, because of his interest in Camp Ripley. Energy policies are important to Mills, who said that people are paying way too much for gasoline at the pump. "If we get our energy policy right we can preserve our way of life," Mills said. "We have to get our energy infrastructure projects up and going." He said he was not against regulations but that the regulator's role should be to "try to figure out how it (an energy project) can be done safely rather than .... road block."
By Mike O'Rourke / Brainerd DispatchBAXTER - Stewart Mills has seen the opposition ads with repeated film clips of him brushing back his hair and can easily joke about them, but he doesn't think they're effective. Friends at the Brainerd Family YMCA tease him and ask why they haven't been invited out on the yacht that's portrayed as the candidate's own in TV ads.The advertisements, he said, have degenerated into bullying and name calling. Their most irritating aspects are when they take statements he has made and run them out of order or out of context."They run ads making fun of my hair rather than talking about substantive issues," he said.Every day of his 8th Congressional District campaign, he said, he hears evidence of a backlash of reaction from viewers to independent expenditure messages made by outsiders."They know nothing about this district and they certainly know nothing about me," Mills said earlier this month at the Crow Wing County Republican Victory Office in Baxter.He said his own message of a consumer based health insurance solution and a reining in of regulatory overreach is resonating with Republicans and independents alike."I endeavor to run a very issues focused campaign," Mills said. "Our message agrees with them."It was his own frustration with the Affordable Care Act that helped motivate the Mills Fleet Farm vice president to embark on his first run for political office. In June of 2013 he announced his candidacy to unseat Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Minn. Nolan."It caused me to get off the bench," he said. "I'm glad I did."The 42-year-old Nisswa resident said he is for social safety nets but not for the creation of a welfare state - which is how he described Obamacare."We should have worked on making social safety nets more complete," Mills said.He wants a health care insurance solution that's comprehensive. He said he favors the aspect of the Affordable Care Act in which people can't be rejected for insurance because of pre-existing conditions.He rejects his opponent's call for a single payer health care system."Consumerism works," Mills said. "Socialism doesn't."Turning to foreign affairs, Mills criticized Nolan's vote in opposition to a bill that authorized arming and training of Syrian rebels. Mills noted he did not have the advantage of deliberating on that specific bill in Washington, D.C., but said he would have voted for finding partners in the Syrian conflict who were thoroughly and properly vetted.He said Nolan was on the wrong side on that foreign policy vote."I would have voted on the other side," Mills said."He's (Nolan's) putting his head in the sand while people are being beheaded in the Mideast." Mills said.Mills said the failure of U.S. officials to reach a status forces agreement with Iraq has led to problems."We left," Mills said. "We created a vacuum."Back at home, Mills said the lack of federal transportation revenue is related to a sluggish economy which he termed as the "worst economic recovery in history."He said the U.S. has to stop building "bridges to nowhere" and raiding the transportation fund for light rail projects which "nobody in our part of the world utilizes."Although he said he loves the Paul Bunyan Trail, the federal government has to stop building bike paths and concentrate on funding roads and bridges.Even rail projects on the more densely populated east coast can't sustain themselves."I think it would be foolish to put money into those projects," Mills said.The Republican endorsed congressional candidate said Enbridge Inc., which is proposing a northern Minnesota route for its Sandpiper oil pipeline that would cut across a portion of Cass County, has a good track record. Sensors monitor pressure in the pipelines for an early indicator of any problems. In cases where there have been spills, he said they have made it right."These guys have their act together," Mills said.Mills said Enbridge's preferred route would mean about $4 million in revenue for Aitkin County alone.If one of the more indirect routes that critics are proposing is chosen, that will make the pipeline longer and extend risk for the environment, Mills said."Every inch it's longer, that's an additional inch of risk,"In Mills' opinion, selection of one of the alternate routes would effectively kill the project.A big part of Mills' message is that Nolan's positions are too extreme for the district. He says his opponent's positions are sometimes to the left of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who represents Minneapolis. When President Bill Clinton was in office he was able to get a work requirement into welfare legislation and President Ronald Reagan worked with House Speaker Tip O'Neill on tax reform, according to Mills.In contrast, Mills points to Nolan's F rating from the National Rifle Association and support for a carbon tax which, if enacted, would strangle the state's iron ore, timber and paper industries."It would have basically shut off the economy in northern Minnesota," Mills said.Nolan voted against a measure that would have limited the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding water regulations.That bill, according to Mills, would have prevented government overreach that would have allowed bureaucracies to unilaterally make rulings that could adversely affect farmers.If elected, Mills said he would be interested in serving on transportation, agriculture and a veteran affairs committee, because of his interest in Camp Ripley.Energy policies are important to Mills, who said that people are paying way too much for gasoline at the pump."If we get our energy policy right we can preserve our way of life," Mills said. "We have to get our energy infrastructure projects up and going."He said he was not against regulations but that the regulator's role should be to "try to figure out how it (an energy project) can be done safely rather than .... road block."