Minnesota Democrats Exposed » Bloggers

DFL FOX IN THE LAKEVILLE GOVERNMENT HEN HOUSE

Andy Post — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 01:57:37 +0000

UPDATE: Dedicated readers of MDE point out that Councilman Matt Little was a scheduled speaker at the DFL’s 2011 State Fair booth panel. He spoke on the topic of “DFL, the Next Generation.”

———

Lakeville City Council member Matt Little is a overtly ambitious, smooth talking, liberal DFL operative and was slick enough to be elected to that position in 2010. Now, just one year after taking office, Little is seeking the position of mayor and raising eyebrows across the south metro. Little is best known for his social media antics both inside and outside of official city government meetings. He’s also got an extremely cozy relationship with the local newspaper editors, who have been writing fluffy puff pieces for Little since he first campaigned for office.

Positioning himself as a moderate and to some voters, a conservative, Little has successfully fooled many into thinking he best represents the center-right ideology of most in this booming conservative suburb. Little owes his constituents a more honest campaign this time around, as they should know who they’re actually voting for when they choose their mayor.

Campaign reports from Lakeville City Hall reveal the following:

The reports show he began his campaign in February of 2009, meaning he campaigned for nearly two years.
His final report shows he raised $9,973.99 but he only lists 13 individuals (which includes the 6 unions below) giving him $100+ (and those 13 contributed a total of $3,023). So…who contributed the remaining $6,950.00 (supposedly ‘under’ $100)?
There was a total of $1,350.00 from six Labor Unions:

Illinois Letter Carriers PAC – Orland Park, IL $200
IUPAT-DC82 (Political Action Together) $300
Ben Waxman, AFL-CIO Director – Washington DC $300
St Paul Regional Labor Federation $300
Minneapolis Letter Carriers PAC $100
Seth Hahn, CWA – Washington DC $150

He lists expenses of $7,895.01
He did not have a Treasurer. He signed his name to all reports.

Little’s social media involvement has also caused a stir. He’s utilized Twitter and Facebook to publicly bash the current Mayor, Mark Bellows, sometimes doing so during city council meetings. Little even utilizes his campaign website to bash the policies of Bellows through a third party liberal blogger. In a recent city council vote, Little was also the only dissenting vote in a common sense move to utilize a trusted private sector electrical inspector in place of a government employee, saving the city $77,000. His love for government employees was too strong for him to vote yes.

Here’s Little glad-handing with 2010 SD-36 DFL candidate Steve Quist at a DFL picnic:

Here are a few examples of Little resorting to Twitter to snipe at Mayor Bellows:

The Lakeville Patch news outlet has a tight relationship with Little, even referring to him as “dreamy” in a tweet:

Little Tweets about his plans to join a rally at the State Capitol:

Little expresses his support for public transit services in Lakeville:

Finally, DFL blogger Eric Pusey promotes Matt Little as one of his top DFL politicians:

Tags: 2010 Election, Bloggers, DFL, Uncategorized

JOIN MDE ON TONIGHTS LATE DEBATE

Andy Post — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:07:13 +0000

MDE will be on tonight’s Late Debate with Jack and Ben to discuss all sorts of political issues, including the 2012 race in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District.

You can listen to the debate over the radio in the north metro on 95.9FM and on 1150 & 1300AM in St. Cloud. To follow the studio activities live, click here: http://www.latedebateradio.com/

Tags: 2010 Election, 2012 Election, Bloggers, ClimateGate, MDE Files, MN GOP, Republican Party of Minnesota

NEW AD HITS FRANKEN FOR OVERREGULATING YOUR INTERNET

Andy Post — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:39:35 +0000

From Powerline, a new ad released hitting U.S. Senator Al Franken on his steadfast support of Net Neutrality:

“Net neutrality” is the Left’s euphemism for regulation of the internet. It is a solution for which no known problem exists. Also, you can tell it is a bad idea because it is being promoted by Al Franken.

A group called Senate Accountability Watch produced this 30-second video, which is accompanied by a statement that says in part:

Senator Franken has spent an extensive amount of Senate time and resources since 2009 to bring about the regulation of the internet. He has tried to make his argument by labeling it, “The Free Speech Issue of our Time.” Senators Franken and Cantwell introduced Senate Bill 74, Internet Freedom, Broadband Promotion, and Consumer Protection Act of 2011. This bill’s intent is to regulate the business model options of internet providers. It prevents internet providers from prioritizing content access. The unintended consequences of regulating one of the last frontiers of unrestricted innovation could be costly to users and developers.

As advancement in medical, entertainment, and communication surges so does the need for flexibility in development of bringing these technologies to end users as well. This commercial is designed to help educate the general public on the unintended consequences of stifling business innovation through legislation. It is easier to change a business model through public pressure rather than amending or repealing law. …

The internet is becoming more and more congested every day. Charles Davidson and Bret Swanson cited in their study that, “Video is more than 70 percent of traffic on the consumer Internet, but generates less than 10 percent of total revenues for broadband service providers. In the wireless realm, it is estimated that data traffic will increase by more than 100 percent each year through 2014.” Senator Franken’s push to regulate the internet would stifle quality, access, and innovation by restraining the evolution of the internet. Senator Franken’s legislation would dramatically disrupt and degrade the very thing he is trying to save.

Tags: 2008 U.S. Senate, Al Franken, Bloggers, Uncategorized, YouTube

BLOGS REACT TO AL FRANKEN’S MEAN-SPRIRITED AND UNMINNESOTAN BEHAVIOR

Michael B. Brodkorb — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:08:32 +0000

"In this case, though, it seems especially egregious. Fritz just wanted to meet [Al Franken], shake his hand, and had no intention to confront the supposed comedian. Instead of acting with some grace when confronted by the sight of a conservative at Carleton — admittedly a rare event — Franken found it amusing to pick on him in a setting where Franken figured he had the overwhelming advantage over the undergraduate in terms of numbers. It's the same kind of mentality bullies use in middle-school locker rooms to humiliate their victims, and with him mocking Fritz's nervous habits, similar tactics as well." Source: Captain's Quarters, January 24, 2008

Click here for the complete post.

"[Al Franken] has a personality that can charitably be described as volatile, and a mean streak a mile wide. He has a history of getting into physical altercations. One that I narrowly missed observing occurred at the 2004 Republican Convention when he got into a shouting-and-shoving match with a producer of Laura Ingraham's radio show." Source: Power Line, January 24, 2008

Click here for the complete post.

"After the rally, students posed for photos with Mr. Franken's. Apparently his treatment of one of the conservative students, Peter Fritz, was less than what one would expect from a US Senate candidate. I know Peter. He is the epitome of a knowledgeable, responsible, articulate, intelligent, polite young man. He treats all with respect. According to this write-up in the Mpls. Star Tribune, the same cannot be said of some DFL students nor Mr. Franken." Source: SCSU Scholars, January 24, 2008

Click here for the complete post.

"A guy who would lash out at a conservative college student who simply didn't want to have his picture taken with him is not someone who ought to be in the Senate–I hope that the citizens of Minnesota will realize that." Source: RedStateElectic, January 24, 2008

Click here for the complete post.

"This ain't New York City, and Minnesotans don't make fun of other people for thinking differently, especially not when they're running for the U.S. Senate." Source: Norwegianity, January 24, 2008 [Sorry, but Norwegianity blocks links from Minnesota Democrats Exposed, so I can't provide a hyperlink to the post.]

###

This post also appears on Blogs for Norm!, an online community and blog covering the 2008 U.S. Senate campaign in Minnesota. The primary goal of Blogs for Norm! is to organize bloggers who support U.S. Senator Norm Coleman.

Tags: 2008 U.S. Senate, Al Franken, Bloggers, Mike Ciresi, Norm Coleman

LIBERAL BLOG BLACK-OUT OF COLEMAN’S BLISTERING WEBVIDEO ABOUT AL FRANKEN

Michael B. Brodkorb — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:51:15 +0000

On Friday afternoon, U.S. Senator Norm Coleman's campaign released a blistering webvideo about Al Franken. Since the webvideo was released, I have spoken with numerous Democrats about material in the webvideo. All of the Democrats I spoke with thought the webvideo was very damaging to Team Franken.

In a surprising development, I have been unable to find an example of a Minnesota liberal blogger discussing Coleman's webvideo about Team Franken. A complete liberal blog black-out of Coleman's webvideo has occurred.

There are two reasons I can think of why no Minnesota liberal blogger has posted about Coleman's webvideo:

#1. They can't respond. The video is damaging and they wished it would go away. They can't defend the indefensible and they don't want to draw attention to a webvideo they know is effective.

#2. Team Franken has told them to stand down. Ignore the video and hopefully it will go away.

The best example of the effectiveness of the webvideo released by Coleman's campaign is lack of response/defense of Al Franken by the liberal blogsphere. Coleman's campaign has scared them all silent.

###

Tags: 2008 U.S. Senate, Al Franken, Bloggers, Mike Ciresi, Norm Coleman

COUNTDOWN TO MDE ON THE RADIO: 1 DAY

Michael B. Brodkorb — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 14:25:09 +0000

Starting tomorrow, I'll be co-hosting a two-hour radio program from 3-5 p.m. with King Banaian of SCSU Scholars on AM 1280 The Patriot.

Please leave a comment (except Roving Reporter and Brian Hanna) with your suggestions for topics and guests.

Tags: Bloggers, Michael Brodkorb, Uncategorized

STAR TRIBUNE: CLAIMS BY MN PUBLIUS THAT KENNEDY’S SITE “SCRUBBED” CLEAN OF REFERENCE TO PRESIDENT BUSH “EXAGGERATED”

Michael B. Brodkorb — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 02:05:10 +0000

“But the claims by MN Publius, picked up by national blogs Hotlineblog, Politicalwire and Dailykos, that Kennedy’s site had been ‘scrubbed’ practically clean of the president appear to be exaggerated.

‘The fact is, Mark Kennedy’s website includes 72 mentions of the word ‘Bush,” state Republican chairman Ron Carey said in a news release blaming the MN Publius posting on Kennedy’s DFL-endorsed election rival, Amy Klobuchar. ‘It’s clear the Klobuchar attack machine has once again fallen for the blogosphere’s misinformation, hook, line and sinker.’

Kennedy spokeswoman Anne Mason said that the Bush-Kennedy picture was replaced last February, and that other changes noted by MN Publius occurred more than a year before that. ‘We update the site as often as possible to be more current,’ Mason said.” Source: Star Tribune, June 28, 2006

Tags: Bloggers, MN Publius, Uncategorized

A MESSAGE FROM MDE

Michael B. Brodkorb — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:37:53 +0000

I am excited to announce that starting Monday, I will be a part-time consultant to Mark Kennedy's U.S. Senate campaign. I am not a full-time paid campaign staffer and the concept of me working with Mark Kennedy's campaign only became a reality in the last few days.

Since the ideas and opinions expressed on Minnesota Democrats Exposed are exclusively my own, I will continue this blog.

I am not now, nor have I ever been paid to blog. I am under no legal obligation to disclose a professional business relationship with a campaign on my personal blog. But my ethics are not governed by legal interpretations. I strongly believe I have personal responsibility to inform the readers of Minnesota Democrats Exposed and my fellow bloggers of my new association with Mark Kennedy's campaign.

Bloggers in Minnesota do a great job of policing other bloggers with undisclosed professional connections to campaigns. But the ultimate responsibility lies with each individual blogger to ensure they operate their blog without an inherent conflict of interest. As I am a Republican operative who exposes Minnesota Democrats, I am continually aware of my responsibility to disclose any conflict that could tarnish the effectiveness of my blog.

The over-all content of Minnesota Democrats Exposed will not change, but to ensure transparency you may notice a small drop in my coverage of the U.S. Senate race. I will still provide direct links via Minnesota Democrats Exposed to the websites of all three U.S. Senate campaigns, including Amy Klobuchar and Ford Bell.

Minnesota Democrats Exposed is not created, endorsed, sponsored, or authorized by any political party, candidate, or candidate's committee. It's all me and always will be and I am very proud of Minnesota Democrats Exposed.

Tags: Bloggers, Michael Brodkorb, Uncategorized

DFLERS.ORG DISAPPEARS

Michael B. Brodkorb — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:27:26 +0000

Where has it gone?

Tags: Bloggers, DFL, Uncategorized