Post Election Analysis with Tim Penny

Former First District Congress Tim Penny joined Andy Brownell for the Rochester Today show on KROC-AM Tuesday morning for a post-election analysis.

Prior to the election, Penny indicated the only scenario that offered a chance of making some progress toward addressing the nation's challenges would be the Republicans winning control of the U.S. Senate. The longtime Democrat turned independent saw that as the only path to breaking the log jam in Washington D.C. in the near term, but he didn't sound especially optimistic that any significant progress would actually be realized.

When asked about the impact of President Obama's executive orders on immigration, Penny repeatedly stated he wished he hadn't done it.  Penny says his views on the issue are more aligned with the President's than those espoused by many Republicans in Congress, but he feels Obama's use of executive authority to enact such far-reaching changes without congress might "poison the well' and prevent the two sides from finding common ground on other key issues.

The portion of the show covering politics is featured in the above YouTube post.

The former Congressman is currently the President and CEO of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. The first half hour of his appearance on KROC-AM Tuesday focused on the work of the initiative, which recently awarded a round of grants to area organizations aimed economic development and improving early childhood education. You can learn more about the foundation's mission and initiatives by visiting smifoundation.org.