Archive for May, 2009
« Previous Entries“RITCHIE IS SUED OVER VOTER-REGISTRATION RECORDS”
Friday, May 29th, 2009Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is being sued in the state Supreme Court by the group Minnesota Majority, several Republican legislators and others over alleged vote discrepancies in the 2008 election. The suit, filed Thursday, says that the state’s voter registration system has not been adequately updated and that vote totals from canvassing boards exceed [...]
MINNPOST: “HATCH COULD STILL PLAY HARDBALL IN 2010″
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009He ultimately won election 1998, when he ran for attorney general and defeated the DFL endorsed candidate. He then shook-up the AG’s office by changing staff and policies established by his predecessor, Skip Humprhey. Two successful terms as AG positioned Hatch to run against Pawlenty in 2006. In a bruising battle, Hatch lost by a [...]
STAY CLASSY AL
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009From Politico: Trattoria Alberto of Capitol Hill is a quaint Italian restaurant on 8th Street Southeast, blocks from Capitol Hill, that is frequented by myriad representatives and senators. So many happen upon the fine establishment — it’s a favorite of lobbyists, as well — that a few years ago the restaurant started asking lawmakers who [...]
MUST READ FROM THE OLMSTED COUNTY GOP: “MINNESOTA SPENDING RUN AMOK”
Monday, May 25th, 2009Bruce Kaskubar of the Olmsted County Republicans has written an extensive analysis on Minnesota’s government “spending run amok.” Click here to read the complete article.
MUST READ POST FROM NATHAN HANSEN: “CLUELESS: BETTY MCCOLLUM ON THE PRIVATE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK”
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009Please click here for a must read post from Nathan Hansen on Congresswoman Betty McCollum and the Federal Reserve. I would also suggest that you add Nathan’s blog to your personal list of must-read blogs.
MUST READ FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: “A GOVERNOR AND HIS VETO PEN”
Friday, May 22nd, 2009Like most states, Minnesota has been facing a huge budget shortfall — an estimated $4.6 billion over two years. These dire financial straits didn’t deter the DFL-controlled legislature (the DFL is Minnesota’s chapter of the Democratic Party), which got to work on big new spending bills. Included were not just the usual increases in appropriations [...]
SO MUCH FOR THOSE BUDGET CUTS IN ST. PAUL
Thursday, May 21st, 2009And you thought that times were tight in St. Paul. Apparently not! “Calling a new leopard print shuttle van a great addition to one of Minnesota’s most popular attractions, Mayor Chris Coleman along with city councilmembers, parks officials, and supporters unveiled the free Como Shuttle May 20 that will begin operating at Como Park Zoo [...]
FAILURE FLY-AROUND
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009The DFL Legislative leadership yesterday embarked on a failure fly-around of the state to try and spin what was a disastrous session for them. DFL’ers dragged their feet for five long months coming up with nothing constructive to solve the budget deficit. They had the Governor’s proposals on the table, including a list of comprises [...]
DOUG GROW: “BUDGET BATTLE: DFLERS LOSE, SO NOW WHAT?”
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009Early Sunday afternoon, the DFLers came out of their caucus meeting at the state Capitol like a football team that had just been given a Rockne-like pep talk. There was fire in their eyes. “Let’s go!” said Rep. Jeff Hayden, DFL-Minneapolis, as they passed by his desk in the last row of the chamber. They’d [...]
SHAME ON YOU SENATE DFL!
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009This is just shameful. Watch this video clip from the final minutes of the 2009 session in the Minnesota Senate.
FUND RAISING FROM LOBBYISTS DURING SESSION #2
Monday, May 18th, 2009Mary Lahammer from TPT has a tweet regarding the DFL Legislative leadership and their scheduled fly-around for tomorrow morning. Â The hook? Â The taxpayers are not footing the dime for the fly-around. DFL leaders leave @ 7:50am for St. Paul, Duluth, Bemidji, Moorhead, St. Cloud, Mankato & Rochester. They pay for their plane, not taxpayers. about [...]
MN2020: GOVERNOR LED DURING SESSION, DFL LEADERSHIP FAILED
Monday, May 18th, 2009There’s no real drama remaining at the State Capitol so let’s stop kidding ourselves. Our side lost, ignominiously, from a self-inflicted wound. I’ve been trying out various analogies, explaining what happened. Here’s my most recent: when coach benches four of five basketball players, coach shouldn’t be surprised that the opposing team suddenly presses its strategic [...]
CAPTION CONTEST: EMPTY CHAIRS, EMPTY LEADERSHIP
Friday, May 15th, 2009This photo was taking in the meeting room of the Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy (Hey, MN DFL – correct the title on the front page of your website). This is the table where compromise could be reached with Governor Pawlenty and the DFL legislative leadership over the budget deficit that doesn’t include [...]
FUND RAISING FROM LOBBYISTS DURING SESSION
Friday, May 15th, 2009Fund raising during session might not be any big surprise, except when the fund raising appeals go to lobbyists.  I received an email from a well placed source of a fund raising appeal from Speaker Anderson Kelliher. The problem is that the email from Speaker Anderson Kelliher was received directly by lobbyists. That is a [...]
DFL LEGISLATIVE LEADRSHIP MISCALCULATES AND IS LATER OUTMANEUVERED
Thursday, May 14th, 2009Today was a brutal for the DFL leadership at the State Capitol. Governor Pawlenty outmaneuvered the DFL, and will likely solve the budget deficit because of their inability to provide the necessary leadership to close the gap. My sources at the Capitol are telling me that numerous DFL legislators were upset with DFL leadership over [...]
THANK YOU GOVERNOR
Thursday, May 14th, 2009The DFL leadership in the Legislature has been dragging their feet in coming up with any real solution to solve the budget deficit. Â They were hoping that they would get Governor Pawlenty to blink and abandon his principles. Â The Governor’s bold move of using the line-item veto and unallotments turns up the heat on [...]
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE: “NO SPECIAL SESSION, NO GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN – GOVERNOR PAWLENTY SAYS HE WILL BALANCE STATE BUDGET”
Thursday, May 14th, 2009Saint Paul – At the State Capitol this afternoon, Governor Tim Pawlenty said, “Politics as usual around this place is over. The people of Minnesota expect and deserve timely and decisive action. I will not let the legislature’s work spill over into a special session. We are not going to waste taxpayer money with a [...]
STAR TRIBUNE: “PAWLENTY SAYS HE’D SIGN BILLS, MAKE CUTS TO BALANCE BUDGET”
Thursday, May 14th, 2009Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he will use line-item vetoes and his authority to pull back spending to balance the state budget. He said there will be no special session or government shutdown. The Republican governor said he would prefer to work out a budget deal with Democrats who control the Legislature, but he says they [...]
“THANK PAWLENTY FOR USE OF VETO PEN”
Thursday, May 14th, 2009This is a great letter from the Fargo-Moorhead Forum this morning: We need to thank Gov. Tim Pawlenty for his rapid use of the veto pen. On Friday, May 8, both the DFL-controlled Minnesota Senate and House of Representatives passed bills to raise taxes on you and small business. Pawlenty took little time to strike [...]
“COLEMAN IS RIGHT”
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009Those are the words of Adam Platt, a self described Franken voter and a senior editor at Mpls St. Paul Magazine. “Norm Coleman is right, Al Franken is wrong. It pains me to say this. I voted for Al Franken. I would like to see him in the Senate. … The Minnesota Supreme Court is [...]
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