Minnesota
updated
8:28 a.m.
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A recent Minnesota 2020 report, which Governor Pawlenty criticized but didn’t dispute on statewide radio, showed that as Minnesota’s public investment has declined, so has our economic performance. More specifically, Minnesota now ranks 39th in employment growth. There are already various proposals in the Legislature aimed at creating jobs; construction proposals from the Governor, House, and [.....
Hindsight 2020 - 8:02 a.m.
This past Friday, Almanac featured the two top finishers in last week's DFL preference ballot , R.T. Rybak and Margaret Anderson Kelliher. During that show, Rybak and Kelliher did little to encourage any other candidates into the top tier -- a heads-up race sounds like it's just fine with both candidates. Contrasts were on display during Friday's Almanac, and so are parallels to the 2008 Democra...
Minnesota Progressive Project - 7:00 a.m. - 3 clicks 
A quick trip around the blogging neighborhood: Sheila Kihne wallops Ron Case today, besieging Case for using a public classroom for campaign work. Kihne is to be lauded for her work--and is entirely correct in expecting a DFL standard-bearer for state senate to be aware of such rules. Kihne does oversell her critique: That Case makes his literature a...
Gavin Sullivan's blog - Mon 10:05 p.m. - 3 clicks
Minnesota Independent reports on Michele Bachmann's remarks about Israel to the Republican Jewish Coalition : I am convinced in my heart and in my mind that if the United States fails to stand with Israel, that is the end of the United States . . . [W]e have to show that we are inextricably entwined, that as a nation we have been blessed because of our relationship with Israel, and if we re...
Dump Michele Bachmann - Mon 5:09 p.m. - 4 clicks
Tom Smith is a candidate for the next St Paul Police Chief. The current St Paul Police Chief Harrington is retiring . St Paul police have a positive relationship with the St Paul community because of their community-policing style. Matt Bostrom, a current St Paul Assistant Chief, now running for Ramsey County Sheriff, taught me about community policing . Indeed the community relationships are so...
Minnesota Progressive Project - Mon 1:49 p.m. - 4 clicks
Despite being snowed in, today Congress is taking up a jobs bill in Washington. Just in time for Rep. John Kline to promote his vision for pulling Minnesota, and the rest of the nation, out of the current economic stall and into something resembling actual economic growth. So what is this vision for rebuilding the American economy, and thus, the American middle class? Why, it's to do ...
Minnesota Progressive Project - Mon 1:30 p.m. - 3 clicks
Gallup has Obama job approval, state-by-state, for 2009. Minnesota was at 61.5% approval. Note that this is job approval, which typically runs 5-10% behind personal approval. He was above 50% in a solid majority of states, including places like South Carolina, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Tennessee. Interestingly - and you'd never pick up on this, from corporate media cover...
Minnesota Progressive Project - Mon 11:11 a.m. - 3 clicks
Friday’s Star Tribune carried an op ed entitled “LGA Smackdown.” As framed in the op ed, in one corner was Governor Pawlenty, who was quoted in his radio program insisting that state aid cuts were not the cause of rising property taxes in Bemidji. In the other corner was Bemidji Mayor Richard Lehmann, who countered that [...]...
Hindsight 2020 - Mon 11:11 a.m. - 4 clicks
My job is to protect the interests of the people of Minnesota. Now, how are they to trust you, when you come in and to my face say something that either you know wasn’t true, or you didn’t know, and I don’t know which is worse. How are the people of Minnesota supposed to trust you? As [...]...
MNpublius - Mon 11:10 a.m. - 6 clicks
by Dave Mindeman A Open Letter to the 2nd District Constituents As we approach April 15th, I'm sure a lot of people will be talking taxes. And of course, our Congressman John Kline will be patting himself on the back as the ultimate friend of the taxpayer. But consider this. For all of Kline's crusading against "pork", how much does that save you on your Federal Tax return? That ...
mnpACT! - Mon 11:10 a.m. - 4 clicks
Over at Minnesota Progressive Project (yes, the lefties) I've written a post about how I believe the road to the DFL endorsement in this year's governor's race will pass through the Iron Range . I have decided to move more of my blatantly political analysis over to that blog (and possibly others) as I consider new options for what I do over here. ...
MinnesotaBrown - Mon 11:10 a.m. - 7 clicks
by Dave Mindeman John Kline has assurances for us about the economy .... "The American economy can recover, but it will be in spite of the Democrats big government, special interest policies not because of them. John Kline is confident about the economy. So confident that he considers his do nothing approach another indication of its resilience. When Kline discusses Democratic pol...
mnpACT! - Sun 7:35 p.m. - 3 clicks
The Washington Post has the numbers here . At 11 % missed votes, Bachmann leads the way in missed votes. Keith Ellison comes in second, missing 8.7% of the votes. This isn't the first time, Michele Bachmann has gotten this dubious honor . ...
Dump Michele Bachmann - Sun 4:44 p.m. - 6 clicks
Orlando just beat the Celtics (a good thing, imho) and then our local ABC affiliate joined its program in progress. An infomercial for a device to improve bad backs. Is 4 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon that big a TV wasteland that it competes with the 2-5 am slot for infomercial money? Take away all their licenses and [...] ...
Norwegianity - Sun 4:24 p.m. - 12 clicks
As I bide time before the start of the Super Bowl I give you this NFL metaphor for the Minnesota DFL gubernatorial candidates as the county conventions and April state convention approach. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, the winner of the Feb. 2 straw vote, and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, a very close second in the straw vote, control their own destinies . The only way one of these tw...
Minnesota Progressive Project - Sun 4:24 p.m. - 3 clicks
El Tinklenberg sent out this notice to his supporters: Friends of Elwyn Tinklenberg Dear , Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has long been known for spouting her extreme right-wing views – and now, it's making her a celebrity in conservative circles. At every opportunity, Bachmann puts personal agenda and her pursuit of the national spotlight ahead of her constituents here in Minnesota. And this ...
Dump Michele Bachmann - Sun 4:24 p.m. - 7 clicks
MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty has until Tuesday to explain to the court why his unallotment was legal. Here's a brief article from WCCO's website. Tomorrow, he's giving an address at a forum by the Institute For Emerging Issues in North Carolina. Its website is here. It is affiliated with NC State Univ., and apparently isn't overtly partisan. Be warned. Ths year promises to be th...
Minnesota Progressive Project - Sun 11:49 a.m. - 2 clicks
by Dave Mindeman A transcript of Tim Pawlenty's radio show in the near future ..... GOVERNOR TIM PAWLENTY: Good morning Minnesota! This is your Governor, your fearless leader, on the air. I've got a lot of things to cover this morning and I told the WCCO station manager that I was going to use 2 hours this morning. I told him if he didn't let me, I'd pull his license. BRIAN MCCLUNG: Ahhhh...
mnpACT! - Sat 9:21 a.m. - 5 clicks
The Capital Investment Bill introduced on Thursday focuses on job creation, funding for Minnesota State colleges and universities and additional monies for buses and light rail. The HF2700 Bonding Bill Spreadsheet_1 presents a list of projects and proposed funding levels being considered. You can follow the progress of the Bill on the Minnesota House [...]...
MN Representative David Bly, District 25B - Fri 9:41 p.m. - 8 clicks
I know it sounds counter-intuitive to say that the bonding proposal with the higher price tag is more fiscally responsible. But it’s not nearly as simple as looking at the size of the proposal. Over the long run, a large bonding bill this year will save us a lot of money, in addition to putting [...]...
MNpublius - Fri 6:03 a.m. - 3 clicks
by Dave Mindeman During Pawlenty's ramblings the other day, he said something I'd like to discuss a little furthur. Here's the quote. Pawlenty, speaking on the eve of the 2010 legislative session, called teachers unions one of the most powerful or perhaps the most powerful interest group in Minnesota. If youre a Democrat, you dont cross them, said Pawlenty. Theyve got all the Democrat...
mnpACT! - Fri 1:25 a.m. - 10 clicks
Dear Sheriff Rich Stanek : On Jan. 13, 2010, I happened upon a felony drug arrest in the parking lot of Von Maur Department Store, located at Eden Prairie Center. I've since learned the arrest included Hennepin County Sheriff's Office undercover officers working in cooperation with the Eden Prairie Police. When the action was over--with one suspect in a...
Gavin Sullivan's blog - Thu 9:41 p.m. - 10 clicks
Today was the start of the 2010 legislative session. The Minnesota Senate has laid out an ambitious agenda focused on balancing the state’s budget and growing new jobs in Minnesota. In November, Minnesota finance officials released the state’s most recent economic forecast, which showed the state faces a projected $1.2 billion budget shortfall in the [...]...
Mr. Dahle Goes to St. Paul - Thu 7:14 p.m. - 2 clicks
You can view this here (some formating lost in HTML conversion) or in Word format here . The letter was received in Lakeville, MN on December 22, 2009. Scans of the original mailing are available here . This came from a tip from a Dump Bachmann reader who had gotten this as a stocking stuffer at Christmas. If you get fundraising letters or other mailings from Michele Bachmann, please do se...
Dump Michele Bachmann - Thu 7:14 p.m.
Fresh from my inbox: MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (February 4, 2010)—Steve Kelley, who formally announced his run for Governor in October, 2009, has decided to end his campaign. The full text of his email to supporters is as follows: Thank you for being part of my campaign to transform Minnesota. I have been continually grateful for your words of encouragement, your advice, [...]...
MNpublius - Thu 2:47 p.m. - 17 clicks
There's a notable sale in northern Minnesota media. Founder and publisher Wayne Nelson is selling his monthly publication Business North to veteran newspaper journalists Beth Bily and Ron Brochu . According to Business North , Nelson will remain editor of the publication during the transition. Nelson built Business North into a respected and authoritative voice on business and economic i...
MinnesotaBrown - Thu 9:21 a.m. - 3 clicks
Pawlenty wants to build a sports stadium during a funding crisis where more than 88 percent of superintendents said education quality will continue to degrade if action isn't taken now. Yeah that's the ticket, let's build a stadium when home foreclosure rates are up 56% from the year before and where the state has lost 4,100 jobs in December alone... Minnesota, under Pawlenty's lack of leadership...
Truth Surfer - Thu 7:02 a.m. - 4 clicks
Still in it for the long haul --Eden Prairie Democrats gleefully note--the funerary David Hann for Governor campaign hobbles forth. (Upright, neighborly Eden Prairie DFLers do not respect or like Sen. Hann .) Readers here were introduced to my state senator long ago, when he and I attended a publicly-announced political event. He was surrounded by his aggressively-...
Gavin Sullivan's blog - Wed 11:20 p.m. - 6 clicks
Twenty-seven organizations from 12 Minnesota counties received $1,462,500 in grants for historic and cultural projects of enduring value. The Minnesota Historical Society is helping to grant wishes to dozens of historic and cultural organizations across the state. The Society announced the first 27 recipients of Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Mid-Size and Large Grants for [...]...
MN Representative David Bly, District 25B - Wed 8:45 p.m. - 6 clicks
by Dave Mindeman Hey, wait a minute. Time out. Throw out the challenge flag. We need to look at the tape. Governor Pawlenty has absolutely done it again. Really, if you can't figure out a way to pay for education.... If local government aid is not acceptable.... If health and human services are just out of control spending behemoths..... then why in the world is the Governor bending over ...
mnpACT! - Wed 5:26 p.m. - 5 clicks
Was it something we said? In his first statewide radio interview in nearly a year, Governor Tim Pawlenty was asked about today’s Star Tribune editorial noting Minnesota 2020’s recent report showing that as Minnesota has cut revenue more than any other state in the union, our overall economic performance has become average relative to other states. [...]...
Hindsight 2020 - Wed 1:31 p.m. - 9 clicks
More grizzly news, but logical, has come since Minnesota 2020 issued an update on the weak housing market on Feb. 1. The Washington Post reported that same day 9.1 percent of FHA-backed mortgages were in default after missing at least three mortgage payments. That was up from 6.5 percent at the end of December a year [...]...
Hindsight 2020 - Wed 11:07 a.m. - 6 clicks
Statistically speaking, precinct caucuses didn’t happen. Seriously. With roughly 40,000 Minnesotans participating last night, about 3,000,000 Minnesotans of voting age stayed home. Participants constitute about 0.013% of the electorate. 40,000 people populate a Saint Paul city ward or an under-attended Minnesota Gopher football game at the new stadium. Precinct caucus attendees have, however, a l...
Hindsight 2020 - Wed 8:45 a.m. - 7 clicks
From Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources: If candlelight events are not already an annual tradition for you, let this be the season where you get out and experience winter adventure in a whole new light. Short, easy trails will be lit with lanterns or luminaries, and you can drop in any time during the events [...]...
MN Representative David Bly, District 25B - Wed 6:00 a.m. - 6 clicks
Minnesota Independent has the story . From the City Pages transcript of her comments : He said that in Japan, to wait and get health care is almost impossible. You get on a list and you wait and you wait and you wait. But he said this is something people don’t know: in Japan, people have stopped voicing their opinion on health care. There are things that are wrong with Japanese health care, b...
Dump Michele Bachmann - Tue 7:27 p.m. - 7 clicks
Local priest-flatterers assembled this evening at Edina's Our Lady of Grace to hear Archbishop John Nienstedt and St. Thomas Law Prof. Teresa Collett speak on Culture of Marriage and Family Life . An obsequious youngish man starts the evening's event, telling the two hundred assembled of the ecclesiast's various splendors. Our society's current degra...
Gavin Sullivan's blog - Feb 1 - 9 clicks
Dear Kos, please see my following response to President Barack Obama. I'd love to hear what you think. Imagine having a governor who fights to put in single-payer healthcare! Imagine the example that Minnesota could provide for the other 49 states? In my 23 years in the state senate, I've fought for healthcare for all. As the prime sponsor of the Minnesota Health Plan, I've helped organi...
DailyKos (Minnesota) - Feb 1 - 9 clicks
Tomorrow night (Tuesday, Feb 2nd) is precinct caucus night. Please attend your caucus, and help us in the following ways: To find your DFL Precinct Caucus location, use this site: http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/ The important business of a precinct caucus is to elect a precinct caucus chair and associate chairs. It is very important that more Progressive Democrats of America (and D...
DailyKos (Minnesota) - Feb 1 - 7 clicks
Today Katherine Kersten, a conservative columnist for the Minneapolis StarTribune, offered her recommendations on how to achieve a bipartisan healthcare bill. There were a number of problems, which I'll go into further, but the most significant simply was this, her solution was for the Democrats to become Republicans, and simply adopt all of the Republican ideas while abandoning ALL of their own....
Penigma - Jan 31 - 9 clicks
Residual Forces : Can You Say Predicament? January 29th, 2010 Former Republican Party of Minnesota Chair Ron Carey is going to be Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s Chief of Staff starting in February, Thoughts? My first one is where should I go for vacation in October? I figure my volunteering on the campaign will be about as welcome as a root canal with Carey in charge for the 2010 grind. Lo...
Dump Michele Bachmann - Jan 30 - 4 clicks
This week on 91.7 KAXE 's weekly "Between You and Me" program the topic trends toward carbs. The Saturday morning call-in/music show will explore bread : how to make it, what we like about it and what bread means. I'll chime in with my usual contribution, in my case exploring the world of the second-day bread store. "Between You and Me" features the voices of northern Minnesota (and all thos...
MinnesotaBrown - Jan 29 - 4 clicks
On the front page this week, The Eden Prairie News blares Many opt for natural family planning . The article promotes an upcoming program at St. Mark Catholic Church , in Shakopee. A large photograph of Chanhassians Juli and Bill Currie --and their seven children--accompanies the article. The Curries 'practice natural family planning to achieve and postpone preg...
Gavin Sullivan's blog - Jan 28 - 5 clicks
A recent Letter to the Editor to the Northfield News was harshly critical of the fact that sitting Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie spoke to my Advanced Placement Government & Politics class (he did not speak to a history class as erroneously stated in the attack). One of the most trying aspects of [...]...
Mr. Dahle Goes to St. Paul - Jan 28 - 7 clicks
Minnesota's Rep. Michele Bachmann (CD5) has bailed on the Tea Baggers Convention citing it's unclear how the money raised will be spent to lie and smear Democrats and therefore ethic rules might be violated (or something like that..) Fortunately Palin doesn't have to rely on the same attorney for her ethics and still plans to speak to the gathering of white-winged nuts. So Bachmann is not speak...
Truth Surfer - Jan 28 - 6 clicks
The Surface Transportation Reauthorization Outreach Meeting, held January 25th at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute was full of noble goals. Speakers from both the public and private sectors who emphasized the urgent need to update, expand, and maintain the nation’s freight and passenger infrastructure and ease the gridlock so many of us confront on [...]...
Hindsight 2020 - Jan 28 - 6 clicks
A recent report released this week by the Minnesota Department of Higher Education found that the number of first-time, full time students graduating from four-year colleges in the state within six years has risen since 2004. The report shows that private schools have a greater rate of six-year graduates than public schools, and students in the [...]...
Hindsight 2020 - Jan 28 - 9 clicks
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) announced yesterday (January 26) that the state will be delaying aid payments to Minnesota schools in response to the state’s cash flow problems. Using the authority under Minnesota Statutes 127A.46, the March and April 2010 aid payments of 231 Minnesota school districts will be reduced by an estimated $423 [...]...
Hindsight 2020 - Jan 27 - 10 clicks
