News Cut Category Archive: Politics

Brod suspends gubernatorial aspirations

Posted at 10:39 AM on July 8, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

State Rep. Laura Brod has suspended her exploratory campaign for governor, according to Gary Miller, who writes at Truth vs. the Machine and helped spearhead a Draft Brod movement.

Miller posted a letter from Brod which said some undisclosed health problems prevent her from running at the moment:

Recently I went in to the doctor for a yearly check up, and unfortunately, found that I had some results from routine diagnostic tests which were concerning. Last week, a second opinion confirmed what I originally learned and set forth a treatment plan, after which I am certain I will get a clean bill of health. Over the holiday weekend, my family and I decided right now is not the right time to begin a campaign for the Governor so we are suspending the conversations I have been having related to the potential of my candidacy so we can focus our energy where it needs to be and will evaluate where things are at in late summer.

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A look at congressional office expenses

Posted at 12:07 PM on July 7, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

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On the attack against Franken

Posted at 10:33 AM on July 7, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The end is near now that Al Franken is in the Senate, according to the latest video from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Perhaps you recognize the images of Franken from an anti-Franken ad that showed him screaming during some sort of speech. You can't see the ad anymore because the NRSC has made it "private" on YouTube.

That ad prompted the Franken campaign to reveal where the video came from:

It will be interesting to see if Franken becomes the Republican poster child for the Democratic majority in the Senate.

Here's the oath being administered to Franken today by Joe Biden:

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The health care bills

Posted at 12:02 PM on July 2, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Health, Politics

As the economy continues to collapse, it appears health care has overtaken it as the most important issue facing Washington politicians.

The Senate's giant health care bill has been posted here. It's 615 pages long. The chairman's amendments are another 175 pages.

How many people who boil the characterization of the bill down to talk-show-sized bites will actually read it? How politicians will actually read it? And this is just the Senate version.

Most people won't. But that won't stop them from having an opinion.

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Is a marital affair worse for Republican politicians?

Posted at 9:01 AM on July 2, 2009 by Bob Collins (52 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

I'm live blogging Midmorning's first hour on Thursday, a discussion about politicians and their affairs. Over our neighboring cubicles on Wednesday, I gave Kerri Miller my view: marriage is about as serious as a commitment as there is, and if you're willing to sell it out, the chances are pretty good you'd think nothing of taking a lesser route on the road of ethics. It's more a question of character than a matter of hypocrisy.

But is it a more egregious violation if it's a Republican who walks the Appalachian Trail?

"This is a very disturbing trend that some of their leaders can't abide by some of the values they as a party used to esteem, or should esteem," David Woodard, a Republican consultant and political science professor at South Carolina's Clemson University told the Los Angeles Times last week.

"As other Republicans come up for consideration, this is certainly one of the first things they'll have to address," Woodard said. "Voters will be looking at their private lives much more than before."

Fine. But does that mean a Democrat who admits to an affair gets a pass?

"The American public is often forgiving of personal mistakes," Julian Zelizer, a political science professor at Princeton University, wrote in the New York Times. "There have been many instances when voters re-elect politicians who have suffered through damaging events. But voters don't like it when a politician does something that directly contradicts the core arguments that they or their party have been making in the public arena."

Both Zilizer and Woodard are the guests during the hour (starting at 9:06 a.m.), and I'd like to have a corresponding discussion here to share during the hour. So please share your thoughts below.

LIVE BLOGGING

9:02 a.m. - Let's start by trying to separate the political from the moral. Take this poll.

9:04 a.m. - Some of the comments are getting mailed in. Just got this one:

"We are born with two innate urges. One is to eat, the other is to reproduce. There should be no surprise that infidelity is part of the human condition."

9:07 a.m. - Here's Kerri's intro she read just now:

There are new calls this morning for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford to resign--A dozen Republican state senators have asked Sanford to step down...and a handful of county GOP chairs are calling for him to quit. One of the largest newspapers in the state has also editorialized that Sanford should tender his resignation.

The chorus for the governor to leave office grew louder this week....after he disclosed more details about his extra-marital affair. In a lengthy interview with the Associated Press... Sanford said he was no longer in love with his wife...that his Argentinian mistress was his "soul mate"...and that he'd had other encounters with women during trips with friends. At one point he told the journalists: "I will be able to die knowing that I had met my soul mate."

Attorney General Henry McMaster has asked the State Law Enforcement Division to review all of Sanford's travel records to determine whether he broke state laws.
So far, Sanford has said he will fulfill the remaining 18 months of his term...but there are diverging opinions on whether he can still be effective.... There are also differing perspectives on whether marital fidelity tells us anything about the kind of leader someone can be?

And that's where you, our audience, comes in this morning.

9:09 a.m. - We're starting with Woodard. "I feel like I'm watching a marital autopsy," he says. We're all still trying to figure out why Sanford felt the need to make matters worse by saying he doesn't love his wife anymore, has found his soulmate and still hopes to reconcile.

9:10 a.m. "Do Men See Mark Sanford in the Mirror?" the Los Angeles Times asks this morning.

Call me crazy, but amid all this finger-wagging, am I detecting just a little bit of -- gasp -- empathy? Is there something about Sanford's puppyish comportment, not to mention the fact that, unlike many adulterous politicos, he seems to be truly in love with his mistress (or at least truly convinced that he is) that's making him less a pariah and more a symbol of the male midlife crisis? For all his duplicity and entitlement, are some Americans -- particularly men -- feeling as much pity as outrage? Consider this small sample:

You can read the rest for yourself but it seems to me the suggestion is most men are doing this. Quite a generalization. Does Mark Sanford represent you, gentlemen?

9:13 a.m. - "There's a few people on the Democratic side enjoying this," Woodard says.

9:14 a.m. - Can you be an effective leader after having admitted to an affair? "Yeah, I think you can," Julian Zelizer says. He uses the fact Wilbur Mills got re-elected. But lots of crooked politicians have been re-elected. Does that make them good leaders, or just good crooks?

9:18 a.m. - Chuck (caller): "He seems to be extremely selfish and putting himself in front of everything else and these aren't the times for that." Zelizer says bad economic times can make people angrier. The condition of the Republican Party could make people shakier about "having someone like this in the spotlight." On the other hand, the Great Depression involved FDR having some behavior issues, and yet is considered one of the greatest presidents.

9:21 a.m. - Katherine (callers) says the issue isn't personal transgressions but incompetence to govern.

9:23 a.m. - "He's telling us much more than any of us need to know," Zelizer says. "People don't understand why he can't stop himself." Dave Woodard reacts to my comment so the air just now that 100% of the people taking the News Cut poll says the crime here is "being a hypocrite." "I think that's accurate," he said.

9:25 a.m. - Thelma of Minneapolis writes:

"It matters very much when it takes a hypocritical stance. Didn't Gov Sanford publicly reprehended Pres Clintion for his indiscretions? "

Why, yes, that's true. And funny you should mention that:

9:28 a.m. - Woodard says Sanford makes it hard to attract candidates to run for office. He says since Watergate, we're telling people more than they want to know. It's an interesting comment because very little about Watergate coverage had anything to do with personal lives.

9:30 a.m. - A revelation that everyone knows but few acknowledge. Woodard says bill and proposals such as Defense of Marriage are designed more to increase voter turnout than actually "defend marriage."

9:35 a.m. - We're back after the break. Kerri and I have been talking about what great guests Woodard and Zelizer are.

9:36 a.m. - Caller says it's not about hypocrisy etc. It's about whether or not "you're lying to me. If you're lying to me or the voters, you're out, bucko, because lying means I can't trust you about anything else." Kerri asks if he holds his politicians to 100% truthfulness. He says a broken promise well explained isn't lying. But "if you ask where are you and I lie about that, that's deceit. That's just bald-faced lying."

9:38 a.m. - Responding to that, Dave Woodard said, "I did not have sex with that woman." He says you can lie and get away with it in office. But, for the record, Clinton never came up for a vote after lying to the American people.

9:40 a.m. - The Digitel in Charleston, SC:

The point here is, yes, flay Sanford for his marital indiscretions, but we've got to recognize the real problem is how South Carolina has been starved in education -- and that's the real root of our job problems.

9:41 a.m. - Zelizer: "We don't elect angels, we elect politicians. Ideally we'd love a government full of truth-tellers but I'm not sure we're ever going to have that and I think most voters know that."

9:43 a.m. - Talk shifts a bit to Sanford's presidential aspirations. "Mitt Romney is smiling," Woodard says. "If after a big-spending administration like the Obama administration and you want to cut taxes, I think Gov. Sanford could've stood very tall. But it's a moot point now."

What about Tim Pawlenty?

"There's a lack of a clear farm team of leaders not only to run for president, but to define what the party is all about. In 2004, people said the Democrats were done. Parties can remake themselves very quickly. It's too early and the loss of Sanford isn't a huge detriment.... it's not a sign the party can't rebound. These scandals happen. We hear that these are the people who are natural leaders, but nobody had ever heard of them until then. Pawlenty and Romney are two of the leaders still standing. Romney is more formidable."

9:47 a.m. - I thinking maybe I should add a poll question: Is it wrong to have an affair?

9:49 a.m. "I factor in hypocrisy, don't we expect it?" Kerri asks. "Yeah, but we don't like to see it in our face," Zelizer says.

9:51 a.m. - "People will give politicians give and take if they make a position and they can't take it later on because of the circumstances. What they can't seem to accept is when they take an oath or a vow," says Woodard. "When they violate those kind of things (marriage vows), they violate something in a serious situation and they're on record as being hypocrites and that's why hypocrisy is winning." (He's referring to the poll posted above)

9:52 a.m. - Time to turn this hypocrisy thing around. Suppose a governor spends two terms telling you taxes are wrong. Is he a hypocrite if he raises taxes? Would we hold that against a governor?

9:54 a.m. - Caller's observation: "If the governor were a woman, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"The images of politics is smoking, drinking, and fooling around," Zelizer says. "It's hard to see a woman candidate surviving thise."

It's not much of an issue in South Carolina, Woodard notes, because the state has the lowest number of elected female politicians.

9:57 a.m. - Gail Collins in the New York Times today

Talking about money was familiar ground for South Carolina conservatives, and for a while it looked as if they might settle on a rule that sex is irrelevant unless it leads to a tax increase.

This was a great hour. I hope you continue the discussion down below in the comments section!

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Franken faces

Posted at 1:01 PM on July 1, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Faces in the crowd at today's rally for Sen.-elect Al Franken. You'll need to click the image to enlarge it.

It's near impossible to keep that Election Night excitement alive for 8 months.

11/4/08

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Coleman-Franken: The reaction

Posted at 5:13 PM on June 30, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

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Q&A on the Franken-Coleman fight

Posted at 2:19 PM on June 30, 2009 by Bob Collins (18 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Q: What happens now?

A: Al Franken needs an election certificate before he can enter the Senate. It has to be signed by the Secretary of State and the Governor.

Update 3:57 p.m. - Coleman has conceded the election. "I have always believed you do the best you can and leave the results up to a higher authority. I'm at peace with
that," Coleman said. "It's time to move forward."

Listen

Q: Where's the governor and what's his plan?

A: He's in Washington and released this statement shortly after Coleman conceded:

The Minnesota Supreme Court has today addressed the issues surrounding the accuracy and integrity of our election system during the 2008 U.S. Senate race in Minnesota. In light of that decision and Senator Coleman's announcement that he will not be pursuing an appeal, I will be signing the election certificate today as directed by the court and applicable law.

"I would like to thank Senator Coleman for his service. As state solicitor general, Mayor of Saint Paul and United States Senator, he has been an extraordinary leader and public servant for Minnesota.

"I also want to congratulate Al Franken and wish him well as he serves the people of Minnesota."

"I congratulate Senator-elect Al Franken, the next Senator from the state of Minnesota. The people of Minnesota will now finally get the brilliant and hardworking new senator they elected in November and the full representation they deserve. After all the votes have been counted and recounted, the Minnesota Supreme Court has made the final determination that Minnesotans have chosen Al Franken to help their state and our country get back on track. "The Senate looks forward to welcoming Senator-elect Franken as soon as possible. He will play a crucial role as we work to strengthen our economy, ensure all Americans can access and afford quality health care, make our country more energy independent, confirm the President's outstanding nominee to the Supreme Court, and tackle the many other challenges we face. "I once again encourage Governor Pawlenty to respect the votes of his constituents and the decisions of his state's highest court. He should put politics aside, follow his state's laws and finally sign the certificate that will bring this episode to an end."

The Senate is not currently in Washington. It's on its July 4th break.

Franken told reporters today he's "going up to the Range to do some parades." So it'll be a few days before he's sworn in. Listen

Q: Did judges on the Supreme Court all agree?

A: Yes. The decision was unanimous -- per curiam, in legal speak. Two members of the court abstained because they served on a panel that considered the issue earlier.

"Whatever your political point of view, you had someone on the court from your perspective, who from a political perspective would share your point of view. And yet, given that diversity, they all saw the law the same way. That's significant," Ned Foley said.

Q: Why did it take so long?

A: "One of the things that's always on the mind of judges and justices is not wanting to be reversed," said Prof. Rick Hasen of Loyola Law School, who also writes the Election Law blog. He says the decision was intended to keep Coleman from winning had he attempted to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

Q: Could Coleman have continued the fight?

Yes, according to Hasen. He had two options. "One is an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court , the other is federal appeals court. He certainly has federal and constitutional issues, "and the Supreme Court is open for business to hear those."

A lawsuit to the federal appeals court would likely not have been successful, the professor said, because the court was likely to say the issues had already been decided at state court.

Q: Why didn't Coleman continue the fight?

A: Larry Jacobs at the University of Minnesota says Coleman is "busted" and also has to pay some of Al Franken's legal bills. Jacobs says Coleman also has his eyes on running for governor in 2010.

There was also little chance of success. Realistically, the federal options are only a few days' delay, Ned Foley of Ohio State told MPR's Gary Eichten this afternoon. "It's not going to delay it much further," he said.

Q: Will Coleman run for governor?
A: Not saying "no" when asked that question is saying "maybe." Coleman said he's more concerned with catching fish.

Q: How does this affect Washington?

A: Franken becomes the Democrats' 60th vote. That's the number required to avert filibusters. "...with both Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Robert C. Byrd absent due to illness, the Democrats have sometimes scrambled to make sure they had lined up enough votes," the New York Times notes.

Closer to home, we will likely start hearing opinions on critical issues from Sen.-elect Franken.

Q: So that's it, then? The Democrats get everything they want?

A: These are the Democrats. In-fighting is part of the party DNA. Just look at the veiled shots President Obama has sent Congress' way in the last month. As Forbes noted on Tuesday:

... rifts over climate change and energy policy tend to be more regional than partisan. Last week, a sweeping bill that addresses both issues barely squeaked by in the House. Even before the Minnesota court's ruling, the bill's future in the Senate was in doubt. Opponents worry that it would lead to rising energy costs and is too watered-down to be meaningful anyway.

The Democrats' biggest foe in climate change legislation last week wasn't a Republican. It was a Democratic congressman. From Minnesota.

"I'm not going to Washington to be the 60th Democratic senator. I'm going to be the second senator from Minnesota," he said on Tuesday.

Q: What committees will Franken serve on in the Senate?

The Health Education, Pension and Labor Committee; the Judiciary Committee; the Committee on Indian Affairs, and the Committee on Aging.

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The money quotes in the Coleman-Franken decision

Posted at 1:11 PM on June 30, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice, Politics

Here are the money quotes from today's Minnesota Supreme Court decision confirming Al Franken as Minnesota's junior U.S. Senator:

On absentee ballots:

The distinction between errors by voters and errors by election officials is an important one. We have drawn "a clear distinction between the provisions and prohibitions in the election laws which are personal to the elector and those which apply to election officials over whose conduct he has no control."...Fitzgerald v. Morlock, 264 Minn. 520, 524, 120 N.W.2d 339, 345 (1963). We have said that "any reasonable regulations of the statute as to the conduct of the voter himself" are mandatory, and a vote is properly rejected if the voter fails to comply with the law. Id. at 524, 120 N.W.2d at 345. But if a voter complies with the law, his vote should not be rejected because of "irregularities, ignorance, inadvertence, or mistake, or even intentional wrong on the part of the election officers."

We conclude that our existing case law requires strict compliance by voters with the requirements for absentee voting. Thus, we reject Coleman‟s argument that only substantial compliance by voters is required. Having rejected this argument, we also conclude that the trial court‟s February 13 order requiring strict compliance with the statutory requirements for absentee voting was not a deviation from our well-established precedent.

Is absentee voting a right or a privilege?

At oral argument, Coleman posited that because of the increased use of the absentee voting method, it should now be treated as a right, not a privilege. But that is a policy determination for the legislature, not this court, to make.

On the differing standards from county to county for how absentee ballots were judged:

Coleman was required to prove either that local jurisdictions ‟differences in application or the trial court‟s application of the requirements for absentee voting was the product of intentional discrimination. Coleman neither claims nor produced any evidence that the differing treatment of absentee ballots among jurisdictions during the election was the result of intentional or purposeful discrimination against individuals or classes. Nor does Coleman claim that the trial court‟s February 13 order, establishing certain categories of ballots as not legally cast, was the product of an intent to discriminate against any individual or class.

On Coleman's claim that some ballots were counted twice:

Coleman called no witnesses with direct knowledge of the handling of duplicate ballots in the relevant precincts, but he did introduce at trial voter rosters, envelopes from accepted absentee ballots, copies of ballots challenged during the manual recount, and machine tapes from the identified precincts in which he alleges double-counting of absentee ballots occurred. On appeal, Coleman has identified nothing additional that an inspection of ballots under section 209.06 would have produced.We therefore hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the petition for inspection.

On missing ballots in Minneapolis:

The ballots are missing, but Coleman introduced no evidence of foul play or misconduct, and the election day precinct returns are available to give effect to those votes.

The Supreme Court did not order Gov. Pawlenty to sign an election certificate.

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Dishonorable mention

Posted at 4:02 PM on June 24, 2009 by Bob Collins (26 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

It's not the heat; it's the hypocrisy.

Maybe Mark Sanford had a real shot at presidential politics; maybe he didn't. It's all over now that he's admitted he was having an affair with a woman in Argentina (See emails) and that's why he disappeared for several days and nobody -- including his wife -- knew where he was. The fact his wife said she wasn't concerned told me everything I need to know about the Sanford marriage.

Why do politicians have affairs? Perhaps for the same reasons everyone else who's running around has one: they don't think they're going to get caught, ego, and, sex; -- not necessarily in that order.

Twenty-two percent of adults in monogamous relationships have cheated on their current partner. The rate is even higher among married men, according to a recent survey. If politicians cheat at the same clip, 91 members of Congress are fooling around.

"We think everybody is out there doing it," says Janet Lever, a sociologist at California State University, Los Angeles, and the study's lead researcher told MSNBC. "Well, they're not."

Our reaction -- usually disappointment -- reveals our basic idealism toward politics. "I think why this gets so much attention in the news is because these are people we want to trust - they are people who make important decisions that affect our lives. When they turn out to be dishonest, we are not only disappointed, but we can't trust them at all," Emily Brown, a marriage counselor, told the Washington Post after one politician's fling went public.

The list of pols getting caught, though, seems endless. My ranking of the top 10 political "affairs."

10. Gov. James E. McGreevey - With his wife standing by his side, the New Jersey governor acknowledged he had an affair, then admitted he was gay.

9. Gov. David Patterson - One day after replacing the philandering Elliot Spitzer, Patterson admitted that he also had an affair... or two, causing a communal forehead slap among New York residents.

8. Rep. Vito Fossella - The New York congressman broke down on the House floor last May after acknowledging his arrest for drunk driving and admitting he had a daughter with a woman who wasn't his wife.

7. Sen. John Ensign - It was just last Tuesday -- two days before Sanford took off for Argentina -- that Ensign admitted he had an affair with a family friend. "I take full responsibility for my actions," reading from the first chapter of the "Politician's Guide to Admitting Your Affair."

6. Rep. Newt Gingrich - One of President Clinton's biggest critics during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Gingrich admitted he was fooling around, too, around the same time. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards," he said, while insisting he wasn't a hypocrite. Gingrich, considered a potential presidential contender, may end up proving that having an affair isn't a political death sentence.

5. Sen. David Vitter -- The Louisiana senator was all about family values, as long as you don't define family values as "eschewing the DC Madam." "This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," he said, with his wife standing nearby.

4. Sen. Larry Craig - The Idaho senator was arrested at the Minneapolis St. Paul airport Concourse C men's room after apparently soliciting an undercover cop for sex. His defense? "I am not gay," he insisted. His wife joined him at his side for his press conference.

3. John Edwards - The former presidential candidate proved there really are two Americas: the men who cheat on their wives and the men who don't. "I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices," he said of his affair with the campaign's filmmaker. His wife, battling breast cancer, stood beside him. It was an uncomfortable moment, though, when she appeared on NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me last Saturday, only to be asked by Peter Sagal, "how big is the doghouse your husband lives in now?"

2. Eliot Spitzer - The New York governor with a squeaky clean reputation, tossed it away for a romp with high-priced hookers. "I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself," he said, with his wife standing at his side.

1. Bill Clinton - Still the mother of all political affairs. "I did not have sex with that woman" is as big a part of presidential history as "I am not a crook." Both were lies. (Zip ahead to 6:18 here). Well-delivered lies.

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News conference choreography

Posted at 3:06 PM on June 23, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Media, News, Politics

The very tail end of President Obama's news conference today provided the best glimpse into the workings of the White House press corps.

Listen to the comment shouted at the end of the president's remarks. (Listen)

After Obama had bid everyone "adieu," an unidentified reporter whined "No questions about Iraq?" It seemed an odd complaint to a president, coming from someone responsible for asking the questions, one of which, by the way, included "how many cigarettes do you smoke a day?"

I wondered about that on Twitter, when Kevin Watterson, the Minnesota House Republican Caucus' communications boss, suggested coordination between Obama and the press corps over what questions would be asked.

He wasn't the only one. Writing on the Politico blog, Michael Calderone noted that Obama invited a question on Iran from Huffington Post's Nico Pitney.

Reporters typically don't coordinate their questions for the president before press conferences, so it seemed odd that Obama might have an idea what the question would be. Also, it was a departure from White House protocol by calling on The Huffington Post second, in between the AP and Reuters.

CBS Radio's Mark Knoller, a veteran White House correspondent, said over Twitter it was "very unusual that Obama called on Huffington Post second, appearing to know the issue the reporter would ask about."

Knoller says a news conference shouldn't "be choreographed," although presidents historically have had a "go-to" reporter to call on when questioning gets tough -- the kind of reporter who might ask about, for example, a new dog or the number of cigarettes he smokes a day.

Most of the questions asked today seemed to follow the issues that currently have our attention -- Iran and health care. It's not clear what question about Iraq the lonely reporter with the complaint would have asked had he been given the chance.

On that subject -- the news agenda -- a survey of what we're interested in (by way of the news media) speaks to our short attention spans.

Here's the graph for the last week, compiled by Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism:

And the week before that:

And the one before that:

Iraq hasn't registered on the PEJ's news coverage index since the third week in February.

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Politics South Carolina style

Posted at 4:28 PM on June 22, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

It was an odd few hours in South Carolina on Monday when nobody could figure out where the state's governor was. Gov. Mark Sanford disappeared last Thursday. But TheState.com reports his cellphone signal was picked up in Atlanta.

Adding weirdness to the situation was this reaction from the governor's wife, as reported by the newspaper.

First lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press earlier Monday her husband has been gone for several days and she did not know where.

Wait for it.

She said she was not concerned.

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Politicization of the language

Posted at 11:57 AM on June 19, 2009 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

"It follows that any struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes."
-- George Orwell

Is it torture or harsh interrogation tactics? National Public Radio ombudsman Alicia Shepard told MPR Midmorning host Kerri Miller she'll have a piece on her online column later today because "NPR listeners are furious that we're not calling a spade a spade."

So the timing was perfect for today's Midmorning hour on how our language has been politicized, and how a point of view creeps into the journalism.

At MPR, for example, pro-choice and pro-life and no-no's. Instead, we use phrases such as legalized abortion. Of more recent vintage is the controversy over the use partial birth abortion. It is a virtually endless debate.

That said, here's a list of the words or phrases that came up in this morning's broadcast, either from the guests -- Shepard and Karlyn Kohrs Campbell from the University of Minnesota -- or callers. Add your own below.

Public plan vs. government plan
Death tax
Public option vs. government takeover
Waterboarding
Disabled person vs. Person with disabilities
Enhanced interrogation technique
Fee vs. tax
Break news
Abortion doctor
Latino
Collateral damage
Regime vs. government

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The Renter's Credit impact

Posted at 10:30 AM on June 19, 2009 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

MPR's Jessica Mador provides some insight into the impact of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's trimming of the Minnesota Renter's Credit as part of the effort to balance the state budget without raising taxes.

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That's Robert Zozaski, who lives in subsidized rental housing in Breckenridge. He's 80 years old, a veteran of the Korean War and he's thinning his packaged soup to help make ends meet. The credit goes to about 270,000 low- and moderate-income Minnesotans.

Here's what Jess wrote:

The credit is essentially a tax refund intended to offset renters' share of property taxes. (Many) homeowners get one, too but the governor's proposed cuts would only affect renters.

The refund goes to people who earn about $50,000 or less, but more than half of the households make less than $20,000 a year. An estimated 28 percent are seniors and people with disabilities.

Eighty-year old Korean War veteran Robert Zozaski lives in subsidized rental housing in Breckenridge. Between his Social Security check and his pension from the VA, he gets by on about $930 a month. He says he saves money by eating lots of ramen noodles.

"The ramen noodles and chicken flavor, I like. One package of that, I double the water so I make two meals out of it. What I do is I buy them by the case when they are a dime a pack. That's $2.40 a case. That's quite a few meals," he says.

Zozaski has a heart condition. Luckily, his medications are paid for by the VA, but he worries about the sodium in the ramen and other cheap foods he relies on but says it's all he can really afford.

He'll have to figure out a way to save even more money if he loses his Renter's Credit, which usually puts a few hundred dollars extra in his pocket. He uses it to buy new clothes and pay a county home health aide, who comes twice a month to help with laundry and chores.

Zozaski says he doubts the governor and lawmakers know what it's like to live on ramen.

The governor's budget would cut the Renter's Credit by more than a quarter - about $51 million a year, a deeper cut than he has proposed in the past.

Stay tuned

Are you receiving the Renter's Credit? Tell us about your budget.

On his weekly radio show today, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the cut that his fellow politicians have been most vocal about, is the end of the rebate for political contributions, according to the Pioneer Press' Rachel Stassen-Berger.

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How unallotment affects your city

Posted at 11:35 AM on June 17, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

On MPR's Midday this afternoon, Rep. Loren Solberg predicted massive property tax increases because of Gov. Pawlenty's "unallotment."

At the same time, the League of Minnesota Cities has just posted a Department of Revenue spreadsheet showing the impact on each city in the state. Find it here.

The League makes clear that pushing many of the cuts to the second year of the state's two-year budget gives officials some flexibility...

For cities, approximately one-third of the reduction will occur in 2009 and two-thirds will occur in 2010. This "backloading" of the cuts will allow cities the most flexibility and longest time frame to make budgetary adjustments.

How familiar are you with how your city spends tax money? What would you be willing to do without if you were given a choice? (Update: Mitch Berg has an impressive list here)

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If

Posted at 2:06 PM on June 16, 2009 by Bob Collins (76 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

A few ways the governor's unallotment may impact you.

If you're a politician:

You'll have to find another way to convince people to contribute to your campaign. The political contribution refund is eliminated through June 30, 2011. It reimburses Minnesotans for contributions to candidates.

If you're a renter:

Your renter's refund would be reduced from 19% of rent paid to 15%.

If you're a personal care attendant:

The most hours you can work in a month are being reduced by 45.

If you work for the Department of Public Safety, Military and Veterans Affairs, Corrections, or State Operated Services Division of the Department of Human Services:

Relax. The 2.25 percent reduction in the state agencies budget doesn't apply to you.

If you invested in capital equipment:

You won't be getting your sales tax refund payment for up to 3 months.

If you need help applying for public health care programs:

You're on your own. The money to fund it from the state is being suspended. Parts of the program paid for by the tax on health care providers will continue.

If you live in Albertville, Andover, Arden Hills, Baxter, Blaine, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Burnsville, Champlin, Chanhassen, Circle Pines, Corcoran, Cottage Grove, Dayton, Eagan, East Bethel, Edina, Farmington,Forest Lake, Golden Valley, Ham Lake, Hugo, Inver Grove Heights, Lake Elmo,Lakeville, Lino Lakes, Mahtomedi, Maple Grove Maplewood, Mendota Heights, Minnetonka, Minnestrista, Monticello, Mound, New Brighton, Oakdale, Orono, Otsego, Plymouth, Prior Lake, Ramsey, Rogers, Rosemount, Roseville, Sartell, Savage, Shakopee, Shoreview, Shorewood, Spring Lake Park, St. Anthony, St. Louis Park, St. Michael, Vadnais Heights, Victoria, or Woodbury:

You may not feel the impact as deeply. Your city doesn't get local government aid (LGA) from the state. Other cities will feel it, city officials say. "It could be in the form of no cop in their kid's school, higher property taxes, or a local library that is no longer open," according to St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.

If you're Wisconsin:

Send that check! Minnesota will require payments under the reciprocity agreement that allows Wisconsin students who attend Minnesota public colleges to pay the same tuition they would at a comparable Wisconsin school, and vice versa. This is wrong. You still have to pay up, Wisconsin, but it's the income tax reciprocity agreement that allows residents of one state to file income taxes only in the state in which he/she lives when he/she works across the border.

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Throwing the book at politicians

Posted at 12:00 PM on June 16, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Within the last week, Minnesota legislators began receiving copies of the book, "48 Liberal Lies About American History," written by a University of Dayton professor, and sent to them by the chairman of the Montgomery County (Ohio) Republican Party. They weren't the only ones, however. Over 7,000 politicians across the country are getting the book.

"It's been very fun, the responses that I've gotten," according to Attorney Greg Gantt, the party chairman in the Ohio county. "The speaker of the Ohio House actually returned a bunch of the books and said that the suggested $25.95 cover price exceeded the amount the gift could be. But it only cost us $7. But they took the time and money to send them back," he said. "That sparked some lively debate around town." (Note: The gift ban in Minnesota is $50).

Twenty volunteers worked for two weeks in Gantt's law firm to get the books out. The effort was bankrolled by Harlan Crow, the Texas real estate mogul and Republican benefactor and frequent contributor to Minnesota Republican pols.

"I just loved it, just from someone taking an event in history," Gantt said. "Many times, as a party chairman, I'll be a part of something and the story comes out and everybody (who knows) realizes that's not exactly how it happened."

Gantt says he hasn't heard anything back from Minnesota politicians, yet. "I got a thank-you note from Sarah Palin yesterday," he said.

Palin and Dayton, Ohio are well linked. It was the city chosen by Sen. John McCain to announce her as his vice presidential running mate. Gantt says Montgomery County is representative of Ohio as a whole. "We've got all the different socio-economic subsets in our county here," Gantt said.

So I had to ask whether Gov. Tim Pawlenty's rumored entrance into the presidential race has got people stirred up in Montgomery County? "Not really, yet," he said. "I think everybody just needed a break from presidential politics."

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Googling Pawlenty

Posted at 11:01 AM on June 12, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

I stumbled across this while doing some Google searches this morning. The governor is buying ads on Google to tout his Web site, which asks for political contributions, even though he's already announced he's not running again.

Apparently they've been running for at least a week.

Based on our own knowledge of Googleads, playing around with various keywords (even if you just Google "governor," you get Pawlenty) and seeing various versions of the Pawlenty ad suggests it's a pretty extensive ad buy.

President Pawlenty, however are not one of the keywords for the ad. "Sarah Palin Tim Pawlenty" and "Mitt Romney Tim Pawlenty" are. "Barack Obama Tim Pawlenty" are not. "Minnesota budget" are.

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Fact checking: Income vs. property taxes

Posted at 1:17 PM on June 11, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Taryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, today claimed that for the first time, collections from the property tax will be greater than collections from the income tax.

Is this true?

We turn to veteran political calculator Mike Mulcahy.

This does appear to be true if you're talking individual income taxes. House research made this handy chart.

Also worth noting that the property tax figures include the statewide property tax on businesses but the individual income tax totals do not include the corporate tax, which raises $792 million this year...a little more than the statewide business property tax.

Also not sure if it's fair to say this is the first time ever. The state had no individual income tax before 1933.

Update 5:33 p.m. (From Mulcahy)

According to information Tom Scheck just got from the Revenue Department, the state collected more in property taxes than income taxes from 1962 to 1978 (the year of the Minnesota Miracle) and fiscal years 91-96. (The records they gave us only go back to '62). It also looks like there were a few years in the early 1980s when property tax revenues where higher than income taxes (that may have been due to the recession then, but it's a little hard to read their chart).

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How blue is Minnesota?

Posted at 11:40 AM on June 11, 2009 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Chris Cillizza, who writes The Fix political blog for the Washington Post today handicapped the characteristics of those who would be king, injecting an assertion about Minnesota voters designed to impress those outside of flyover country.

Pawlenty, as we have written before, is the leading populist in the party at the moment. (Apologies to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels but his pledge not to run in 2012 limits his reach within the GOP.) Pawlenty's personal story -- first in his family to go to college, a truck driver father etc. -- is at the heart of his appeal in Minnesota, a state not particularly inclined to support Republicans in statewide elections.

How to measure that? Let's look at the statewide races.

Governor - Minnesota hasn't been particularly inclined to support Democrats in the race for governor. It's elected one -- Rudy Perpich -- in the last 28 years. There have only been 9 Democrat governors in the state's history, and that's counting Perpich twice. There have been 26 Republican governors. So getting elected governor of Minnesota as a Republican isn't such a big deal.

Senator - Norm Coleman was the sitting Republican in the Senate before he lost last year's election to Al Franken. Out of three million votes cast, only a handful separates the two. Suggesting the state isn't inclined to support Republicans for the seat is a tough sell, especially when the seat has been held by two Republicans since the 1978, and only one Democrat. Similarly, the seat held by Amy Klobuchar has been split by Republicans and Democrats since 1977 (two apiece).

Secretary of State - Since 1858, there have been only five Democrat secretaries of state, although DFLer Joan Growe sailed through every election to serve from 1975 to 1999.

Attorney General - A Republican hasn't been elected attorney general in Minnesota since 1966. Even when Republicans were sweeping to victory in most statewide offices in 2002, DFLer Mike Hatch was the only one to buck the trend.

Cillizza may be hanging his hat on presidential contests in the state, but that's a thin peg in evaluating Pawlenty's history as a state candidate.

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The domain game

Posted at 4:36 PM on June 2, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Web intentions of politicians can tell us whether someone is thinking about running for another office. Or it can tell us whether someone is thinking about making money by registering a domain and then hoping to sell it to a candidate thinking about running for another office. Or it can tell us a political party is reserving the domains. In other words: It's not a reliable political yardstick.

On the other hand, it can be fun to poke around.

Seifertforgovernor.com (Rep. Marty Seifert), brodforgovernor.com (Rep. Laura Brod), and sullivanforgovernor.com (former gubernatorial candidate Brian Sullivan) are taken. They were registered on the same day in April 2008.

Kohlsforgovernor.com (Rep. Paul Kohls), Hannforgovernor.com (Sen. David Hann), Michelforgovernor.com (Sen. Geoff Michel), Weaverforgovernor.com (Former Pawlenty chief of staff Charlie Weaver), Gramsforgovernor.com (former Sen. Rod Grams) and Ramstadforgovernor.com (Former congressman Jim Ramstad) are available.

Pawlentyforpresident.com was registered by Rep. Pat Garofolo, R-Farmington.

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On Pawlenty's future

Posted at 10:48 AM on June 2, 2009 by Bob Collins (17 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Tim Pawlenty is holding a 2 p.m. news conference "regarding his future plans," which gives us a little more time to engage in the national pastime for political types who have nothing else to write about: Tim Pawlenty's future plans. MPR's Tom Scheck is citing a source saying the governor won't run. (Update: He won't run.)

Even before that, however, the betting line -- mine -- said he'll announce he's not running for a third term. Reasons: Why should he? He's wanted to be more than a governor since before he was a governor. The governor's office was the consolation prize for getting out of Norm Coleman's way -- at the behest of Dick Cheney -- in 2001.

Second, it's never too early to start raising money for a national campaign, but it can be too late. The 2012 presidential campaign -- at least from the Republican point of view -- started the minute John McCain declared he had enough delegates for the Republican nomination. Mitt Romney has been raising money. Newt Gingrich has been raising money, and Mike Huckabee has a daily radio show. And while Tim Pawlenty has a few bucks in the campaign accounts, it's hard to raise money when there's still a chance you'll run for governor again.

Which brings up the new big question. What's he raising money for? The odds say Tim Pawlenty is not going to be the next Republican nominee for president. But if he can make a healthy showing in the primaries, he can be a #2 spot. He'll be only 52 in 2012 -- pretty wet behind the ears in the presidential game (note: Obama was 51 47 when elected.) But the game of a presidential ticket -- like TV anchor teams -- has changed. His chances at a spot on the ticket would depend on whomever gets the top spot not being a white guy and especially not being a white guy former governor.

Pawlenty's announcement also puts pressure on Sarah Palin, still the darling of many Republican mainstreeters, to make a move of some sort.

Those aren't the only two jobs available, however. There's still the U.S. Senate. Sen. Amy Klobuchar's seat is up in 2012 and while her job approval ratings are pretty high, the Senate makes a nice place to plot a political future and make a ton of cash.

An even more compelling "what if" scenario is what happens to Al Franken's election certificate if the Minnesota Supreme Court turns aside Norm Coleman's appeal of Franken's apparent election victory? Pawlenty has yet to say if he'd sign the certificate. Would not having a statewide election to worry about influence his decision? Few Republicans are going to hold not sending Al Franken to Washington against a future candidate for, well, whatever.

NPR's "Political Junkie" Ken Rudin analyzes it:

Assuming a White House bid is in his plans, Pawlenty's decision probably makes sense. It frees him to plot a more conservative course than he would have had he intended to run again back home.

What was your favorite Tim Pawlenty moment? Here's mine.

The next political game will be who do the Republicans turn to in the 2010 race for governor? A possible bet is Brian Sullivan, the man who turned Gov. Pawlenty into a more conservative conservative at the Republican State Convention in 2002.

Here's the full press release from the governor's office:

"I am incredibly grateful for the support and trust the people of Minnesota have given me during my two terms as Governor," Governor Pawlenty said. "From providing the best support programs in the country for veterans and their families, to moving Minnesota out of the top ten highest taxed states, to sparking economic development in Greater Minnesota, to strengthening our K-12 education standards and implementing performance pay for teachers, much has been accomplished for our state."

Governor Pawlenty said being governor should not be a permanent position for anyone.

"When it comes to how long someone should stay in an elected position, a little less is better than too much," Governor Pawlenty said. "It's a lesson I learned spending time in places like the Croatian Hall in South Saint Paul, where there is inevitably less joy and more trouble in too much pizza or too much beer. We don't have term limits in Minnesota, but we do have good judgment and common sense. We are a government of laws and ideas, not personalities."

Governor Pawlenty noted that during the past six and a half years, his administration has continued to improve Minnesota's quality of life. The state ranks:

1st in the region in annual per capita income (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis)
1st in the county in Fortune 500 companies per capita (2009 Fortune 500 list, U.S. Census)
1st in the nation in average ACT test scores (2008 ACT, Inc.)

"Healthiest state in the nation" according to the CQ Press study Health Care State Rankings 2008: Health Care Across America

Accomplishments during the past six and a half years include:

Proposing and creating the nation's most comprehensive programs for veterans, military members and their families, including enhancing state G.I. Bill benefits, funding a memorial to Minnesota's World War II veterans, beginning the Military and Veterans

Support Cabinet, and starting the LinkVet program to connect veterans with assistance.

Keeping Minnesota competitive by requiring state government to live within its means and not raise taxes, especially during this period of economic uncertainty.
Balancing the state budget four times without raising taxes, including eliminating a $4.5 billion deficit in 2003 and a $4.8 billion deficit in 2009.
Moving Minnesota out of the top ten highest taxed states, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, a goal of every Governor from all three political parties dating back to Governor Rudy Perpich.
Signing into law nearly $800 million in total tax reductions and a three-year local property tax cap, projected to save taxpayers $78.5 million in 2009 and $460.5 million over the next three years.
Reducing state government growth to average two-year budget increases of less than six percent during the past six years, the lowest budget increases under any Minnesota Governor in at least the past 40 years.
Developing the nation-leading teacher performance pay reform, Q Comp, which links teacher compensation to classroom and student achievement, rather than just seniority.
Creating the Minnesota Academic Standards - new, more rigorous high school graduation requirements.
Establishing Minnesota as the Renewable Fuels Capital of the United States by doubling the amount of renewable fuel used in gasoline, implementing the use of biodiesel and enhancing Minnesota's role as a top wind energy producing state.
Proposing and signing into law Minnesota's nation-leading 25 x 25 renewable energy standard, establishing a benchmark of 25 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2025.
Creating the Job Opportunity Building Zone (JOBZ) program to stimulate economic activity in Greater Minnesota. JOBZ has been involved in 323 deals, resulting in commitments of 5,169 jobs, helping to retain 9,743 jobs and producing more than $580 million in new capital investments.
Proposing and establishing a new higher education institution in Rochester, the University of Minnesota-Rochester, with an emphasis on medicine, business and technology.
Reorganizing and consolidating state government agencies including eliminating Minnesota Planning by combining it with the Department of Administration, merging the Departments of Economic Security and Trade and Economic Development, and merging the Department of Employee Relations into the Departments of Finance and Administration, reducing overhead and saving taxpayer resources.
Proposing and signing into law longer sentences for all categories of sex offenders, including life in prison without release.
Implementing health care payment reform based on incentives to improve quality, reduce costs, engage consumers in decision making and encourage more competition - expected to have the potential for approximately $6.9 billion in cost savings by 2015.

Governor Pawlenty also told Minnesotans that he continues to be honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve and will work energetically during his remaining 19 months in office.

"I've run a few marathons and I believe in finishing strong," Governor Pawlenty said. "Minnesotans will get my very best until I'm done."

Governor Pawenty is serving his second term as the 39th governor of Minnesota. During his time in office, he has served as Chair of the National Governors Association, Chair of the Midwestern Governors Association, and on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, the Achieve Inc. Board of Directors and the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute Board of Directors. He is currently Chair of the Education Commission of the States.

And the DFL's response:

The Minnesota DFL Party released this statement from Chair Brian Melendez regarding Governor Tim Pawlenty's announcement that he will not seek another term:

"While we thank Governor Pawlenty for his service to our state, his retirement as governor is an opportunity to move Minnesota forward.

"Governor Pawlenty's 'no new taxes' ideology plays well to Republican special interests and the dinner circuits from Iowa to New Hampshire, but it has hurt Minnesota and Minnesotans. The divisive politics of ideology and calculation have done enough damage.

"Minnesota faces incredible challenges: a historic multi-billion-dollar deficit, disappearing jobs, skyrocketing health-care costs and rising property taxes. We need a leader who will face these problems with courage and honesty, and won't hide behind clever word games, accounting shifts and budget tricks. We need a leader who understands Minnesota values: accountability, opportunity, prosperity and fair play.

"Today is a day to thank Governor Pawlenty for his service. Starting tomorrow, it will be time to bring Minnesota values back to the Governor's Mansion. We look forward with hope. We look forward to electing a DFL governor."

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Coleman-Franken: Last stop?

Posted at 10:22 AM on June 1, 2009 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Minnesota Supreme Court holds its hearing into Norm Coleman's appeal of Al Franken's apparent victory in the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota, starting at 9 a.m. on Monday. I hope you'll join me here for the hearing, and then we'll live-blog the follow-up analysis with Kerri Miller and guests.

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Sotomayor's Minnesota connection

Posted at 5:41 PM on May 26, 2009 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice, Politics

The conservatives' rallying cry against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor uses a 2001 speech with this quote as its underpinning:

I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.

The meaning seems clear: It is easier to relate to something you know, than something you don't. What involvement that fact plays with the matter of jurisprudence is for the politicians to debate and decide.

But Sotomayor used the women of the Minnesota Supreme Court to make her point in the same speech:

...three women on the Minnesota (Supreme) Court with two men dissenting agreed to grant a protective order against a father's visitation rights when the father abused his child. The Judicature Journal has at least two excellent studies on how women on the courts of appeal and state supreme courts have tended to vote more often than their male counterpart to uphold women's claims in sex discrimination cases and criminal defendants' claims in search and seizure cases. As recognized by legal scholars, whatever the reason, not one woman or person of color in any one position but as a group we will have an effect on the development of the law and on judging.

Sotomayor's observations aren't that different from those expressed many times in Minnesota, where women have been appointed to the state Supreme Court with fair regularity since Rosalie Wahl was first appointed by Gov. Rudy Perpich..

Squint your eyes a little bit and the reaction to Sotomayer's eight-year-old speech could be Minnesota in the '70s reacting to Wahl.

In a 1991 New York Times article, justices Wahl and Esther Tomljanovich acknowledge the value of a different prospective on the bench.

"I don't think men are going to have to run for the hills, but there is definitely a woman's perspective," said Justice Tomljanovich, recalling past humiliations she had experienced as a woman in her personal life.

Is that sexist? Or reality?

The view that a woman's perspective has a place on the bench is no longer seriously debated.

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The Sotomayor saga

Posted at 11:10 AM on May 26, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

MPR's Midmorning has done a great job lining up a program reacting to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court justice. I won't wade into the politics of her nomination nor the analysis of her judicial record because they're available there.

I am interested in her journey from the south Bronx to an appointment with the president in the East Room. How is it that one person can make such a journey, and not most others? Nature or nurture?

Regardless of how you feel about the politics, there's no denying she's a story of success from hard times. Her father, who had only a third-grade education, died when she was 9. Her mother, a nurse, took a second job to support her family. True, this sort of thing happens to people all of the time, but most don't go on to be Supreme Court justices.

Here are a few links with background:

The Chicago Tribune calls her "plucky." "Sotomayor immersed herself in Nancy Drew books and spent hours watching Perry Mason on television, and knew she wanted to be a judge by the age of 10 after being inspired by a Perry Mason episode that ended with the camera settling on the robed sage," it says.

The New York Daily News adds that she made a heck of a jump from a housing project to Princeton, but doesn't answer the question: "how is that possible? What -- other than Perry Mason -- allowed her to escape the Bronx (Six Degrees of Aerosmith: Steven Tyler of Aerosmith went to the same high school)? Is she a fluke or is she an example of what hard work and some breaks can do? "Born in the Bronx in 1954 to parents from Puerto Rico, she was diagnosed with diabetes at 8. Her father, a factory worker, died when she was 9. Her mother supported Sotomayor and her brother, now a doctor, by working at methadone clinics," it says.

"Like Sonia's mother, he had a willingness to work hard, a strong sense of family, and a belief in the American Dream," President Obama said this morning. How much of achieving success consists of those traits?

In an interview with the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, she outlined the criteria that makes poor Latinos successful. "This is the pathology of successful Latinos and other successful individuals who come from economically deprived populations. It is hard to enjoy your success and wear it comfortably when the world we have grown up in is filled with friends and sometimes relatives who don't make it in our society at all."

In this 2004 video from the Law School Admission Council in 2004., posted today, Sotomayor describes more about her upbringing:

Her comments refute some of the descriptions of her housing project-apartment. One account today called it "drab." She called it "pristine" and "wonderful."

"My mom believed that education was the key to everything in the world. If you became educated, you could do whatever you wanted, and accomplish whatever dreams you had," she said, adding she didn't think of herself as a "minority" in the environment she was in.

From the looks of things today, the kids at Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx might have seen the message firsthand that anything is still possible.

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Listening to the whole story

Posted at 3:44 PM on May 22, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

"These are extraordinary times for our country," President Barack Obama repeated yesterday in his Washington speech outlining his national security philosophy and vision. A few minutes after that, former Vice President Dick Cheney delivered an equally strong and eloquent response. Extraordinary, indeed. We rarely have had the opportunity to hear such gripping and passionate speeches on a major issue in such a closely-timed way.

What's been fascinating in the 24 hours since both speeches, is how little of the analysis has been about the substance contained in each. Bob Schieffer on CBS this morning declared that -- politically -- Dick Cheney was the winner. "Cheney's Compelling, Human Speech Was Better Than Obama's Boring Legal Seminar," Mary Kate Cary wrote this afternoon. A local TV political reporter declared Cheney "the winner" during a radio appearance on Thursday afternoon in which the politics, not the merits, of the arguments, was the focus. The Associated Press, in its analysis this afternoon, headlined "Analysis: Obama debating Cheney is a plus for GOP."

So that's it, then? One of the most compelling days for substantive debate on one of the ost important issues facing the country is settled on the basis of style and political gamesmanship and not on the substance of the argument?

This is why Jon Stewart, who at least listened to what was in the speeches, is doing some of the best journalism in the country. The bar is low.

So here are the entire speeches from both. Watch Obama's, then Cheney's.

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Six degrees of medical marijuana

Posted at 11:40 AM on May 22, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

A few political analysts have pointed to a conflict former state Rep. Chris DeLaForest has with his new boss, Gov. Tim Pawlenty. They needn't bother. DeLaForest, a former state rep who gave up his House seat last year, is Pawlenty's new director of legislative affairs. He's also a lobbyist who pushed legislators to pass a medical marijuana bill that Pawlenty is going to veto.

But a glance at the MPR Votetracker (a neat app that I wish we'd kept in service) shows a clearer picture. DeLaForest and Pawlenty are politically joined at the hip.

A look at his votes on major issues during his legislative career reveals that.

FOR

Charging 13 year olds as adults
Preventing local government grants from going to organizations that provide abortions
Requiring voters to show ID
Banning public funding of abortions
Welfare limits for newcomers
Defining marriage as between one man and one woman
A metro-area casino

AGAINST
Embryonic stem cell research
Gas tax
Dedicated outdoors and arts funding
Studying cancer among Iron Range miners
Expanding health care coverage

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Editorial assessments on the budget: Lose-lose

Posted at 3:37 PM on May 20, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Lawmakers and the governor spent much of Tuesday trying to spin the just-concluded legislative session. For the most part, newspaper editorial boards weren't buying it. The DFL legislators, the Republican minority and Gov. Tim Pawlenty all received failing grades.

A look at some of today's judgments:

The St. Cloud Times:

Of course, he's successful with it thanks largely to just enough Republican legislators who either are so enamored with "no new taxes" they don't read their own local property tax bills, or they are politically fearful of what Pawlenty will do to them should they vote against his fiscal wishes.

Either way, they failed to do their jobs.

And then there is the DFL and its leadership.

From the day he delivered his State of the State speech, they were incessantly critical of the governor's budgeting plans, but noticeably short on their own detailed solutions. Beyond across-the-board cuts, they seemed to offer few ideas that truly reformed how the state does business.

Marshall Independent:

Minnesotans deserve better than a DFL-controlled House and Senate jamming a tax bill through the Legislature late Monday and Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who threatens to make cuts on his own, on budget and the DFL tax bill.

In a time when the state needed leaders with vision and the ability to have spirited, healthy debate on issues which will shape our state for years to come, we got partisan bickering, stubbornness and, it seems, no one with an ability or voice strong enough to ask the Legislature to think beyond the next year or two.

Fargo Forum:

The governor might think he's won because he will exercise his constitutional authority to cut and modify the budget to his liking, and will do so without going along with Democratic tax increases. But Democrats also are smiling because they believe they can blame the governor, not their own legislative failure, for the deep cuts in vital funding that will be felt in every city, school district and college campus in the state.

If the governor and his Democratic antagonists see the legislative stalemate as a win-win situation in political terms, they should understand that the people of Minnesota are the losers. The governor and Democratic leaders should be embarrassed not only by wasting 19 weeks in St. Paul, but also by engaging in a dizzying, post-session spin cycle regarding their culpability.

Albert Lea Tribune:

How state funding is distributed is now in the hands of one person, rather than determined through a series of compromises by many leaders.

Good? Bad? That's up to you, but most people vote for legislators because they want representation. For a Republican Party worrying a lot lately about disenfranchised voters, it sure seems to be a move that will disenfranchise voters.

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Jesse being Jesse

Posted at 5:02 PM on May 19, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura is continuing his book-selling tour (but not in Minnesota) and on Monday he appeared on the Sean Hannity program on Fox. Ventura was typical outspoken but also fell into the mistake of discussing the John McCain - Osama bin Laden race for president. Whoops.

Ventura patted himself on the back for talking about the U.S. budget deficit "before the election," and says the topic never came up in the campaign. He's wrong, of course, and it came up in the presidential debates.

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Honor amid the gathering gloom

Posted at 2:10 PM on May 19, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Health, Politics

A ceremony to honor emergency medical services personnel couldn't escape the long shadows cast by the nearby Capitol and the looming gubernatorial race today.

On the former helipad of Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Mayor Chris Coleman, a possible gubernatorial candidate, said, "We all need to stand up... to protect people who don't have the ability to provide for themselves," referring to Gov. Pawlenty's promise to cut medical care for the poor and mentally ill. "Let's not lose what we have here," he said outside a new wing of the trauma hospital.

Hospitals have started -- or are expected to start -- laying off people in anticipation of the cuts. "I'm humbled in light of what all of you are facing in the next few months," Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, (on the right in the photo below) told the crowd of mostly hospital employees. He has announced plans to run for governor.

Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, (on the left in the photo above) who is also a candidate for governor, claimed some victory in the tax bill sent to Gov. Pawlenty; a provision that extends the ability of communities to increase the property tax for emergency medical services. "It was one line in a 300 page tax bill," he said.

By the time the ceremony got around to the people who provide those services, however, most of the politicians had disappeared.

While the Capitol's eight-month summer vacation is underway, the EMS people have gone back to work, stopping long enough for a rare moment in the spotlight.

Moses Alejado, Scott Swenson, Tony Vanneli, and Michael McGaene - St. Paul's Medic 23 C Shift unit -- responded when Mike Popovich felt his chest tighten during a post-bike-ride shower. They treated him, and took him to Regions, where the cardiac team performed an angioplasty. It took all of 31 minutes.

"There was a time, there, that I thought I might, perhaps, die," Popovich told them today, shortly before asking them to sign a picture he took of them.

A helicopter medical team was also honored for rescuing a young girl in Baldwin, Wisconsin.

And representatives of Hennepin County Medical Center EMS, Allina Transportration, North Memorial Hospital, Lakes Region EMS and Kannebec County EMS were acknowledged for their works at the I-35W bridge collapse.

"In one hour and 35 minutes, they had cleared all four sections of the bridge and treated and transferred over 50 patients," Minneapolis Fire Chief Alex Jackson said. "By the time the national media flew in to see the rescue, it was over."

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Live-blogging Midmorning: Taxes

Posted at 9:00 AM on May 19, 2009 by Bob Collins (12 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Now that we've heard from lawmakers for the past five months, it's your turn. On Midmorning , Kerri Miller is discussing taxes with Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhasen, and Rep. Diane Loeffler.

News Cut is live blogging and awaiting your comments.

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Live-blogging: Midday at the Capitol

Posted at 10:44 AM on May 18, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

So here we are, hours away from the end of a legislative session that appears to be ending in chaos. Let's talk about it as we listen to Gary Eichten on Midday talking to most of the principals involved.

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Obama at Notre Dame

Posted at 7:39 PM on May 17, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics, Religion

He came. He spoke. He got heckled. Months of controversy over Notre Dame's decision to invite Barack Obama as its commencement speaker ended today with a small group of hecklers interrupting the president.

He then asked a good question.

Is it possible for us to join hands in common effort? As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate? How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?

For the most, we don't. But that's beside the point of the protest, according to John Kass of the Chicago Tribune, for the problem wasn't that Obama was asked to speak, it was that he was given an honorary degree, he says.

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Warfare at the Capitol

Posted at 10:05 PM on May 14, 2009 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The governor and the DFL-controlled Legislature are now at full-scale war. Judging by some of the comments at the Capitol, the situation is being met with shock and surprise. Outside the Capitol, it's something we could see coming a mile away.

They didn't talk much -- at least face-to-face -- and it always seemed as though each was trying to navigate the other into a political corner. Watching some of the Capitol press corps' Twitter feeds on Thursday night, it appears the discussion is more about who this "plays" better for politically, rather than what's in the best interest of Minnesotans who don't make their living by getting elected or appointred to state government gigs.

Politics in Minnesota's Steve Perry provided a transcript of an exchange between the combatants that does not inspire confidence on Main St., Minnesota.

Hanson: "Rep. Sertich, if you have another idea, we're listening."

Sertich: "Commissioner Hanson, you use words like 'agreement' and 'mutual' as if you mean them, and I don't believe you, quite honestly. What I hear you say on agreement is, we want you to agree with what the governor says, and if you don't do that, we'll go it alone. I don't share the optimism from around this table. I don't think this is funny.... If the governor goes it alone and has it his way, 113,000 Minnesotans will lose health insurance. Sixteen thousand Minnesotans will lose their jobs, and there will be cuts in education and higher tuition. That's not funny. That's not an agreement. I'm not optimistic."

Hanson: "Well, Rep. Sertich, your version of agreement is us doing exactly what you want."

Sertich: "That's not true. We're looking for compromise. We have compromised in many of these bills to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. We've cut more than you've cut. We've lowered our revenue [proposal] down to the revenue that the governor has stated is needed to balance this budget."

And now the fallout comes, and it's hit the poor first. MPR's Tom Scheck reports the governor has removed $381,081,000 in general assistance, essentially rolling up the safety net for about 33,000 (number according to Rep. Paul Thissen via Twitter).

Let's talk about this but let's do it a little differently. Let's put aside the political sniping for a second and let's come up with a way to solve this problem.

Any ideas?

(Bob is not writing on Friday)

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A failure to communicate

Posted at 3:26 PM on May 11, 2009 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

At the Capitol today, Governor Tim Pawlenty offered some changes to his position on the state budget.

According to the Associated Press, "the governor offered to cut his borrowing plan in half and to agree to a larger amount of deferred education spending that wouldn't appear on the books during this budget period. He also said he would divert $250 million he wanted in a reserve account to the general budget." (More via Polinaut)

The governor offered the suggestion "in the spirit of compromise" by sending a letter to legislative leaders.

Let's look at the Capitol floor plan, again.

House leaders rejected the idea by posting it on Twitter.

From House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher:

Governor's letter a compromise? Compromise in word only, doesn't balance the budget. Not a responsible plan.

House Majority Leader Tony Sertich also used Twitter, but "retweeted" a reporter's "tweet" to reject the idea:

Agreed. RT @sturdevant: Gov's first end-of-session proposal is more of the same: loads of one-time money.

I don't think the governor is going to see it on Twitter. He only posts about once a day. His latest one is pretty old:

Fishing opener banquet last night; Then to Rochester for daughter's Vball tournament; mom's day lunch; mowed grass and now cooking dinner.

Meanwhile, aides are standing by in the event further negotiations are needed.

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Gas prices jumping

Posted at 1:24 PM on May 11, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Energy, Politics

Despite what the weather might suggest, there must be a summer coming. Gas prices are heading up in a hurry.

In the Twin Cities today, the price of a gallon jumped about 20-cents-a-gallon, to about $2.39 in some locations, still lower than the $3.61 of a year ago, but we might get back there soon enough.

It was July 2005, when we visited these levels for the first time. The state had shut down over a budget dispute between Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the Legislature.

Coincidence?

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The most boring moment

Posted at 10:32 AM on May 10, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics, Sports

What's the most boring moment in baseball? Tom Scocca of the Boston Globe has spent considerable seconds thinking about this and has determined that's it ball two.

Ball two stands alone, above any of the other dull business on the diamond. The intentional walk at least adds a base runner to the game. The halfhearted throw to first to check the runner is a sign that the pitcher is feeling tension. But ball two signifies almost nothing.

I am now considering other most boring moments in other spectator sports -- the Minnesota Legislature, for example.

But I can't tell whether the most boring moment is on the first day of the session when everybody says they think there'll be cooperation and great progress or near the end of the session when they complain there wasn't.

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Pawlenty vetoes tax bill

Posted at 7:48 AM on May 9, 2009 by Bob Collins (18 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The governor vetoed the big tax bill early Saturday morning, shortly before the governor went fishing.

Under the Legislature's plan, taxes would rise on alcohol, credit card companies that charge high interest rates and couples earning more than $250,000.

The House can -- and will, probably -- try to override the veto and most of the media experts focus on the need to get three Republicans to defect to their side, presuming that all the DFLers vote for the override. But will they?

Here's the roll call (courtesy of the Associated Press)

SENATE

DEMOCRATS VOTING YES
Anderson (St. Paul); Bakk (Cook); Berglin (Minneapolis); Betzold
(Fridley); Bonoff (Minnetonka); Carlson (Eagan); Chaudhary
(Fridley); Clark (St. Cloud); Cohen (St. Paul); Dahle (Northfield);
Dibble (Minneapolis); Doll (Burnsville); Erickson Ropes (Winona);
Fobbe (Zimmerman); Foley (Coon Rapids); Higgins (Minneapolis);
Kelash (Minneapolis); Kubly (Granite Falls); Langseth (Glyndon);
Latz (St. Louis Park); Lourey (Kerrick); Lynch (Rochester); Marty
(Roseville); Metzen (South St. Paul); Moua (St. Paul); Murphy (Red
Wing); Olseen (Harris); Olson, M. (Bemidji); Pappas (St. Paul);
Pogemiller (Minneapolis); Prettner Solon (Duluth); Rest (New Hope);
Rummel (White Bear Lake); Saltzman (Woodbury); Saxhaug (Grand
Rapids); Scheid (Brooklyn Park); Sheran (Mankato); Sieben
(Newport); Skoe (Clearbrook); Skogen (Hewitt); Stumpf (Plummer);
Torres Ray (Minneapolis); Vickerman (Tracy); Wiger (Maplewood)

DEMOCRATS VOTING NO
Sparks (Austin); Tomassoni (Chisholm)

REPUBLICANS VOTING NO
Day (Owatonna); Fischbach (Paynesville); Frederickson (New Ulm);
Gerlach (Apple Valley); Gimse (Willmar); Hann (Eden Prairie);
Ingebrigtsen (Alexandria); Johnson (Ham Lake); Jungbauer (East
Bethel); Koch (Buffalo); Koering (Fort Ripley); Limmer (Maple
Grove); Michel (Edina); Olson, G. (Minnetrista); Ortman
(Chanhassen); Pariseau (Farmington); Senjem (Rochester); Vandeveer
(Forest Lake)

REPUBLICANS NOT VOTING
Dille (Dassel); Robling (Jordan); Rosen (Fairmont)

HOUSE

DEMOCRATS VOTING YES
Anzelc (Balsam Twp); Atkins (Inver Grove Heights); Benson
(Minnetonka); Bigham (Cottage Grove); Bly (Northfield); Brown
(Moscow Twp); Brynaert (Mankato); Bunn (Lake Elmo); Carlson
(Crystal); Champion (Minneapolis); Clark (Minneapolis); Davnie
(Minneapolis); Dill (Crane Lake); Dittrich (Champlin); Doty
(Royalton); Eken (Twin Valley); Falk (Murdock); Faust (Hinckley);
Fritz (Faribault); Gardner (Shoreview); Greiling (Roseville);
Hansen (South St. Paul); Hausman (St. Paul); Haws (St. Cloud);
Hayden (Minneapolis); Hilstrom (Brooklyn Center); Hilty
(Finlayson); Hornstein (Minneapolis); Hortman (Brooklyn Park);
Hosch (St. Joseph); Huntley (Duluth); Jackson (Milaca); Johnson
(St. Paul); Juhnke (Willmar); Kahn (Minneapolis); Kalin (North
Branch); Kath (Owatonna); Kelliher (Minneapolis); Knuth (New
Brighton); Koenen (Clara City); Laine (Columbia Heights);
Lenczewski (Bloomington); Lesch (St. Paul); Liebling (Rochester);
Lieder (Crookston); Lillie (North St. Paul); Loeffler
(Minneapolis); Mahoney (St. Paul); Mariani (St. Paul); Marquart
(Dilworth); Masin (Eagan); Morgan (Burnsville); Morrow (St. Peter);
Mullery (Minneapolis); Murphy, E. (St. Paul); Murphy, M.
(Hermantown); Nelson (Brooklyn Park); Newton (Coon Rapids); Norton
(Rochester); Obermueller (Eagan); Olin (Thief River Falls); Otremba
(Long Prairie); Paymar (St. Paul); Persell (Bemidji); Peterson (New
Hope); Poppe (Austin); Reinert (Duluth); Rosenthal (Edina);
Rukavina (Virginia); Ruud (Minnetonka); Sailer (Park Rapids);
Scalze (Little Canada); Sertich (Chisholm); Simon (St. Louis Park);
Slawik (Maplewood); Slocum (Richfield); Solberg (Grand Rapids);
Sterner (Rosemount); Swails (Woodbury); Thao (St. Paul); Thissen
(Minneapolis); Tillberry (Fridley); Wagenius (Minneapolis); Ward
(Brainerd); Welti (Plainview); Winkler (Golden Valley)

DEMOCRATS VOTING NO
Pelowski (Winona)

REPUBLICANS VOTING NO
Abeler (Anoka); Anderson, B. (Buffalo Twp); Anderson, P.
(Starbuck); Anderson, S. (Plymouth); Beard (Shakopee); Brod (New
Prague); Buesgens (Jordan); Cornish (Good Thunder); Davids
(Preston); Dean (Dellwood); Demmer (Hayfield); Dettmer (Forest
Lake); Doepke (Orono); Downey (Edina); Drazkowski (Wabasha);
Eastlund (Isanti); Emmer (Delano); Garofalo (Farmington); Gottwalt
(St. Cloud); Gunther (Fairmont); Hackbarth (Cedar); Hamilton
(Mountain Lake); Holberg (Lakeville); Hoppe (Chaska); Howes
(Walker); Kelly (Red Wing); Kiffmeyer (Big Lake); Kohls (Victoria);
Lanning (Moorhead); Loon (Eden Prairie); Mack (Apple Valley);
McNamara (Hastings); Murdock (Ottertail); Nornes (Fergus Falls);
Peppin (Rogers); Sanders (Blaine); Scott (Andover); Seifert
(Marshall); Severson (Sauk Rapids); Smith (Mound); Torkelson
(Nelson Twp); Urdahl (Grove City); Westrom (Elbow Lake); Zellers
(Maple Grove);

REPUBLICANS NOT VOTING
Magnus (Slayton); McFarlane (White Bear Lake); Shimanski (Silver
Lake);


Assuming the House doesn't override the veto, how far should the DFL go to stand on principle? Most of the Capitol press corps I've talked with say not far, since it could lead to a government shutdown, which would put state workers out of work and nobody in the DFL wants to anger the state workers.

But if we're talking about throwing 100,000 people off health care and closing hospitals, is that worth angering state workers? Or not?

What say you?

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Live-blogging: The Legislature's final days

Posted at 10:44 AM on May 6, 2009 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Senator Larry Pogemillers Senate Majority Leader, and Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Speaker of the Minnesota House are on Midday with Gary Eichten. The Legislature is down to its last few days and the annual stand-off with the governor is brewing.

Why not join in and discuss what you hear? Listen here.

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Is it a time to forgive?

Posted at 8:27 PM on May 5, 2009 by Bob Collins (10 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics

Should taxpayers pay for a hockey arena in St. Paul?

That's the question facing Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a professed hockey nut, now that the Legislature has sent him a political grenade -- a bill that forgives $33 million of a no-interest loan the city got from the state to lure professional hockey back to Minnesota by building the Xcel arena.

The city really doesn't need the money, except that it wants to build another hockey arena across the street for the benefit -- primarily -- of the Minnesota Wild, who need a hockey facility.

A hotel planned for the site has been dropped, according to St. Paul councilman Dave Thune on the the St. Paul Issues Forum. "The ice sheet would provide a base...(surrounded) by a really exciting retail component befitting historic seven corners. The pond would host world class figure skating, public skating, wild hockey practice, curling and youth hockey," he said.

Perhaps. But wasn't one benefit of the Xcel Center to be a boost to business in St. Paul? A few restaurants have benefited, there's more business for parking ramps, but other than that, not much. And while it attracted the Republican National Convention, that week was a disaster, even for businesses a teargas cannister's throw from the arena.

Back when then-mayor Norm Coleman was trying to cut the arena deal, some people in St. Paul objected to the city getting stuck with pricetag for an arena that would attract hockey-loving suburbanites. Perhaps this is one way they can pony up their share.

But what about people in Marshall, for example. Its representative, Marty Seifert, the House Minority Leader is, predictably, no fan of the bill. "Go back to your coffee shop. Go back to your hardware store ... and ask people if you think this is an opportune time for us to be forgiving over $30 million that's owed to the state of Minnesota, from a deal that was struck in the 1990s, when we are $6 billion in the hole," said he said.

What say you?

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The myth of the health care access fund

Posted at 5:14 PM on May 4, 2009 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Health, Politics

At the Capitol today, some health care advocates pushed for a higher "provider tax" to avoid health care cuts proposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

The 2 percent tax -- known as a "sick tax" in health care provider circles -- is part of the funding mechanism for the Health Care Access Fund, which also uses premiums paid by enrollees of MinnesotaCare, the state-subsidized health care plan for low-income Minnesotans. The tax is levied on doctors, dentists, and other health care providers.

"MinnesotaCare is an excellent program providing coverage for the working poor in Minnesota and if it requires some additional tax on health care providers to keep those services in place, our members as a whole are willing to step forward and do that," said Lawrence Massa with the Minnesota Hospitals Association.

If you didn't know any better, you'd think the HCAF had run out of money, so the governor is imposing the cuts. You'd be wrong.

The Health Care Access Fund is one of the few dedicated taxes in Minnesota that actually works for the limited goal that spawned it. It works so well, in fact, that it often runs a surplus, which is why the governor and Legislature have regularly used it as a "slush fund" to balance shortfalls in the state budget, over the objection of the health care providers.

Last year, for example, the governor proposed pulling $149 million from the fund. Over his term, he's diverted more than $400 million from the fund.

Writing in the Spokesman Recorder last month, Rep. Bobby Joe Champion criticized the governor for proposing the HCAF money go directly into the General Fund.

The governor wants to keep collecting the Provider Tax while diverting it away from the people it was created to help. That's on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars that his administration has already shifted out of the fund to balance previous deficits. Those shifts have resulted in fewer people able to access MinnesotaCare and other programs.

Such a move would have allowed Pawlenty to spend the health care tax on anything but health care, and avoid the annual attention of raiding the fund. Tax bills emerging in the House and Senate, however, did not include Pawlenty's plan.

The people Massa represents -- hospitals -- have a serious problem, to be sure. The Bemidji Pioneer's Brad Swenson admirably describes the health care mess (registration required), partially created by years of shifting money from areas for which it was intended.

The situation is the underpinning of the coming showdown between the governor and Legislature. But its core is simple.

1. Health care providers pay a tax to provide health insurance for low-income Minnesotans.
2. The fund that provides the insurance often runs a surplus.
3. The governor diverts the surplus -- and more -- to other uses and notes the spiraling cost of health care, while cutting reimbursements to hospitals who end up providing care to those who can't afford to pay for it.
4. Pressure builds to remove more people from health insurance coverage.
5. Proposals surface to increase the tax to provide health insurance for low-income Minnesotans, even though it ends up being used for something else.

The problem, of course, is exacerbated by the reality of the economy and the state budget which -- even if the health care fund were used for other things -- is still going to lead to major cuts in Minnesota health care.

Does anybody see a solution here?

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Medical marijuana bill passes Minnesota Senate

Posted at 11:30 AM on May 4, 2009 by Bob Collins (11 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice, Politics

The Minnesota Senate today has passed the bill legalizing the medical use of marijuana, but not without a brief rehash of arguments that haven't changed on either side over the last 10 years.

Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, says the bill is the first step in legalizing drugs, and says it'll be "a law enforcement nightmare."

The bill passed 35-to-29, picking up two more votes in the Senate than in 2007, the first time a medical marijuana bill survived a full vote in either the Senate or House, and one vote fewer than a preliminary vote last week.

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The flu formerly known as swine

Posted at 3:02 PM on April 30, 2009 by Than Tibbetts (6 Comments)
Filed under: Health, Media, Politics

What's in a name?

We've moved beyond the "panic" stories to the politically tinged debates over what to call that nasty virus traversing the globe.

World Health Organization officials today begin referring to the virus formerly known as swine flu as "influenza A (H1N1)." (Though the WHO has shown it isn't above industry meddling.)

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has this note posted on one of its flu pages:

This is a rapidly evolving situation and current guidance and other web content may contain variations in how this new H1N1 virus of swine origin is referred to.

Over the coming days and weeks, these inconsistencies will be addressed, but in the interests of meeting the agency's response goals, all guidance will remain posted and new guidance will continue to be issued.

But they might have trouble switching things up as they've been giving out cdc.gov/swineflu as the site for information.

The City of St. Paul just sent out a press release titled "Information available on H1N1 (swine) flu threat."

Then there's the World Organization for Animal Health which, so far, has the most novel approach:

No current information in influenza like animal disease in Mexico or the USA could support a link between human cases and possible animal cases including swine. The virus has not been isolated in animals to date. Therefore, it is not justified to name this disease swine influenza. In the past, many human influenza epidemics with animal origin have been named using geographic name, eg Spanish influenza or Asiatic influenza, thus it would be logical to call this disease "North-American influenza".

MPR received a letter from a pork producer representative that laid bare the industry's objections to calling it swine flu:

[Please] reference the present flu virus by its appropriate name, the 2009 N1H1 flu.

Referring to the present flu virus as "swine flu" is not only damaging to MN pork producers, but demonstrates an uneducated, reckless approach, which is undoubtedly uncharacteristic of MN Public Radio.

The negative connotations to swine, unfairly made and scientifically unsupported, affect consumer confidence and therefore have a significant negative impact on pork production.

There is scientific evidence that the virus is genetically connected to pigs, but you cannot get the flu by eating pork products. It's not like we're not calling it bacon flu, though. To be fair, when your industry is under sudden and near total onslaught, you have a right to be defensive.

When it comes down to it, the media, at least for now, will likely stick with swine flu.

Today on Talk of the Nation, host Neal Conan was asked by a caller why he was not using the term "correct" term of H1N1. Said Conan, "We call it swine flu because that's what people call it."

So... what do you call it?

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The Switch

Posted at 1:01 PM on April 28, 2009 by Than Tibbetts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

If you were listening to the radio yesterday afternoon, you might recall Neal Conan's interview with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) (D-PA).

While the talk of the Specter's switch will certainly revolve around the national political ramifications — you know, what with Al Franken being the potential 60th vote for the Democrats if Norm Coleman loses his appeal at the Minnesota Supreme Court — NPR's reflection on the interview offers a different take.

All politics is local, and Sen. Specter was concerned about his ability to win a Republican primary in 2010, or so the subtext goes:

Specter: Well, it is true that the polls are bleak. When I voted for the stimulus package, one of just three, and was in position, along with Senator Snowe and Senator Collins, to provide the decisive votes, there was a very strong adverse reaction. There was a resolution filed in state committee to censure me. The state chairman and the national chairman said they didn't know if they could support me. My office was picketed. And it's a tough proposition. I've overcome some challenges before, and I'm working on a game plan.

The Atlantic's Mark Ambinder offers a Cliffs Notes analysis of the switch.

Time flies. Two weeks ago, Specter said he'd be a Republican forever.

Tom Scheck is running down the implications of Specter's change on Minnesota's Senate race. He's got the reactions from the Franken and Norm Coleman campaigns on Polinaut.

Now, imagine the onus on Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Democrats want Franken to have the election certificate, oh, yesterday, while there will no doubt be pressure from Republicans to a) find a way for Coleman to win or b) keep Franken out of the Senate for as long as possible. It's been clear for a while that the race would have to pivot around Pawlenty before it comes to a conclusion.

Update: Pawlenty says the switch won't affect the Minnesota Senate race. He wouldn't say when he'd issue the certificate, except to say he'll follow the court's direction.

"We're going to follow the law with respect to the Franken/Coleman litigation and when and how a certificate gets issued," Pawlenty said. "So again, the situation with Pennsylvania has no connection or impact on what's going to happen in Minnesota."

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History is history

Posted at 3:26 PM on April 16, 2009 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics

The Minnesota Historical Society is announcing huge proposed budget cuts. According to a news release, more than 90 people would lose their jobs, fewer books would be published and three sites would close.

You know my penchant for aviation, so I'll weep silently for the the Charles A. Lindbergh Historic Site in Little Falls. It, along with Historic Forestville in Preston, and North West Company Fur Post in Pine City would be closed to the public.

Lindbergh, for the record, was good enough for Gov. Pawlenty to invoke in his 2008 State of the State address. "When Charles Lindbergh emerged from the plane, he said just what you might expect a Minnesotan to say, 'Well ... I made it,'" It's easier to fly solo to Paris than it is to keep history alive in Minnesota, however.

Historic Fort Snelling would close for two days each week.

The Oliver H. Kelley Farm in Elk River, Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post in Onamia, Forest History Center in Grand Rapids, and Jeffers Petroglyphs in Comfrey would only be open weekends.

Maybe nobody cares about these particular cuts, the governor's spokesman suggests.

"If you weren't able to go to the Historical Society Library when you thought you' might be able to, some people might notice that. It doesn't seem like the Historical Society is trying to go overboard. I think their attempt here is one that presents a realistic approach as they seems like they look at the budget situation," said Brian McClung.

But wasn't the "Legacy Amendment" -- that's when you voted for a sales tax increase last fall -- supposed to be a boon to cultural programs in the state?

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How others see us

Posted at 12:40 PM on April 16, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Norm Coleman - Al Franken recount story is a hit -- sort of -- in Europe.

On Wednesday, MPR's Mark Zdechlik was on the BBC's Up All Night. Once you get past the mangling of Mark's name, it's even more interesting to hear the questions. The host apparently thought the race between the two was over. But when you hear Mark explain the process, one wonders how anyone overseas can wonder what's wrong with Minnesota.

"Why didn't anyone weigh into this long before?" the commentator asked, referring to the Supreme Court ruling in the Gore-Bush clash in 2000 49 days after the election. "There is no sense of a clock running here at all," he said incredulously.

"We urge more patience on you," he said. Listen

Meanwhile, All Things Considered host Tom Crann was on the radio in Dublin. The host on RTE Radio 1wondered why a Democrat in "one of the bluest states in the union" couldn't easily win an election in which Barack Obama swept to victory.

Told by Crann that Coleman was appealing this week's decision, the host intoned, "Oh, good lord." Listen

Why does Europe care? Is it a fascination with the democratic process in the colonies? Or the fact it involves a former comedian?

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The Internet tax debate

Posted at 10:19 AM on April 8, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

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Gay marriage - Vermont style

Posted at 4:42 PM on April 7, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The gay marriage issue is starting to feel like the collapse of the Eastern bloc. It's happening quickly and relatively quietly, without much of a fight. Today, Vermont became the latest state to legalize gay marriage when its legislature voted to override the governor's veto of a bill. It's the first time gay marriage was enacted via the legislature and not from the courts. The "activist judges" cries, which started when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court struck down laws to prevent gay marriage, don't work here.

Four states now allow gay marriage, and two of them have joined the ranks in the last week. On Friday, Iowa's Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriage.

Iowa. The nation's heartland. You could almost hear conservative groups sigh, "If we've lost Iowa, we've lost America." But after last November's bruising, the reaction has been somewhat muted. Then again, it's not an election year.

"You cannot take marriage, a social institution that developed over a very, very long period of time, and redefine it out of existence, without taking an enormous risk," writes BeliefNet columnist Rod Dreher. "The agenda of some of these leaders is precisely to do that -- to rid marriage of anything normative, to make it a free-floating legal condition that has no meaning beyond whatever it is they want it to mean today."

But like the fall of the Eastern bloc, the effort to legalize same-sex marriage is picking up steam on a regional basis, and it's happening quickly. The chances are improving, the New York Times reported, that New England is the core of the movement, whose slogan is "Six by '12."

This map from the Human Rights Campaign reinforces the notion of a regional strategy:

What does this mean in Minnesota? Not much; at least not yet. Same-sex marriages from other states are not recognized in Minnesota. A bill to change that is -- so far -- going nowhere at the Capitol. Legislation to make Minnesota's marriage laws gender neutral is similarly stalled.

(Photo: Jordan Silverman/Getty Images)

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Taxes: It don't come easy

Posted at 12:18 PM on April 7, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Minnesota Department of Revenue has sent out a news release today touting changes the Legislature has made in tax code to make it easier and less confusing for people to file their taxes.

Presumably, this will be the case once people who have already filed their taxes refile their taxes because of the new rules.

Confused? Well, yes.

Here's the release.

Some of the changes contained in the law resulted in the elimination of Department of Revenue Schedule M1NC, Federal Adjustments. As a result, some taxpayers who used this schedule in calculating their Minnesota taxable income will have to file an amended individual income tax return for 2008.

No further action is required for taxpayers who claimed federal deductions for higher education tuition and fees or for teacher classroom expenses, but who had no other adjustments on Schedule M1NC.

However, taxpayers with other adjustments on Schedule M1NC should re-file their Minnesota tax return as outlined below. This includes taxpayers aged 70 ½ or older who reported non-taxable direct transfers from IRA accounts to charitable organizations.

Taxpayers who have not yet filed their 2008 Form M1:
· Do not complete Schedule M1NC, since the schedule is now obsolete.
· Taxpayers claiming the college tuition and fees and/or educator expenses deduction on their federal returns must add back these deductions on line 12 of the newly revised Schedule M1M, Income Additions and Subtractions.
· Taxpayers who use tax software should be sure to download the latest program updates.

Taxpayers who have already filed their Minnesota return and included Schedule M1NC:
· File an amended return if you added back tax-free charitable transfers from IRA accounts or reported any federal adjustments other than tuition and fees and educator expenses. You must use Form M1X, Amended Minnesota Income Tax.
· Taxpayers who used tax preparers should contact those professionals for updated forms and information.

The legislation (HF 392) conforms Minnesota's income tax to most federal changes enacted through Dec. 31, 2008. It does not include any provisions of the recently passed federal stimulus law, which generally take effect with tax year 2009.

Conforming to federal tax law helps provide clear and consistent rules that help reduce taxpayer confusion and make it easier to calculate and file state taxes.

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Earmarks deadline

Posted at 3:49 PM on April 3, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Today is the deadline for members of Congress to post their 2010 "earmark" requests online. Under new House rules, members have to post their requests on their individual Web sites.

The Web sites, of course, are not standardized so it's not always easy to find a particular posting. But given a reasonable review of the Web sites, here's the ones that have been posted for the Minnesota delegation:

Rep. Tim Walz - Not found.
Rep. John Kline - Not found.
Rep. Erik Paulsen - Not found.
Rep. Betty McCollum - Not found
Rep. Keith Ellison - Not found
Rep. Michele Bachmann - Not found.
Colin Peterson - Includes flood protection for the Red River valley, barley research, ultra-light vehicles for the military.
Rep. James Oberstar - Not found

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There's something about Pawlenty

Posted at 12:15 PM on April 2, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Pawlenty, Politics

It's budget season and that's open season on politicians, but after six years on the job, most of which have been taken up by budget cutting, it may be time for DFLers to acknowledge that Tim Pawlenty's nickname should be be "Teflon Tim."

Eric Ostermeier, who writes the Smart Politics blog over at the Humphrey Institute has analyzed Pawlenty's latest approval ratings and pulls out this nugget:

In fact, Pawlenty is one of only three Governors in the 14 states polled by SurveyUSA who currently has an approval rating in excess of the vote received during the state's last gubernatorial election. And only Virginia's Democratic Governor Tim Kaine (+5) has a higher net favorability rating vis-à-vis vote percentage than Pawlenty (+4). The average gubernatorial job performance rating across the more than one dozen states polled is 11+ points south of the average election vote tally.

What Ostermeier doesn't mention in his list, however, is that only Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick had the third party competition (Christy Mihos - 6% of the vote) in the election in 2006 that Pawlenty had from Peter Hutchinson in the same election (6.4%).

In that context, it was actually easier for Pawlenty to have a higher approval rating than on election night than most any other governor.

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Legislature may close loophole on misusing funds

Posted at 2:53 PM on March 18, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

While Congress was busy sending journalists scurrying to the thesaurus to find words to replace "outrage," a Minnesota House committee was tightening a rather glaring loophole: it's not illegal to misuse taxpayer money (insert the predictable joke here).

According to the Legislature's Session Daily:

Following a rash of recent scandals involving fraud and financial mismanagement at state agencies, Winkler wondered why the state employees involved were being fired but not prosecuted. It turns out that knowingly misappropriating state money is not actually a crime.

Under Rep. Ryan Winkler's bill, anyone who intentionally misuses state funds could be charged with a gross misdemeanor.

The bill was inspired by the case of Sonia Pitt, the former director of homeland security planning for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, who was AWOL when the I-35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, who charged over $14,000 in personal travel expenses to the state, and caused the state to pay over $11,000 for her use of cellphones, hotels, airfare, and unnecessary business travel, according to an investigation by the Office of the Legislative Auditor.

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AIG's campaign contributions

Posted at 11:31 AM on March 18, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Earlier, I provided a link to a few news stories about AIG's campaign contributions, which is getting grilled today by many of the recipients over the millions paid out in bonuses.

According to the watchdog site, OpenSecrets.org, these Minnesota candidates have received campaign contributions by the AIG Group.

2008
Michele Bachmann $250
Norm Coleman $1,000
Elwyn Tinklenberg $750
Al Franken $400

2006
Amy Klobuchar $3,000
Mark Kennedy $1,250

2004
Jim Oberstar $3,000

2002
Norm Coleman $7,333
Paul Wellstone $1,100
Jim Oberstar $1,000

Update 3:23 p.m. From Dave Dziok, communications director for Rep. Michele Bachmann:

If you follow the link below you will see that an analyst for AIG in Houston, Texas, donated to Congresswoman Bachmann's campaign but not to the AIG PAC.

Here's the link for donors to AIG's PAC. Trevor Cox of Houston, TX doesn't appear on there at all.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave.php?sort=A&cmte=C00097725&cycle=2008&Page=1

Here's the link to Trevor Cox's donations which are completely separate and independent from AIG. Simply because he is employed there does not mean he is associated with the PAC that is responsible for political contributions in any way. The names he contributed to, on his own, seem to be all pro-life heavy hitters.

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/donor_lookup.php?name=Cox,%20Trevor

Congresswoman Bachmann has not ever received donations from AIG. As we told the CRP, the way they report is misleading so I understand how the confusion was made, but the story as reported is misleading so I wanted to draw it your attention.

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Live-blogging Midday: The governor's budget

Posted at 10:58 AM on March 18, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

MPR's Midday is discussing Gov. Tim Pawlenty's reworked budget plan. I've live-blogging it in search of the salient nuggets.

Guests are Sen. Dick Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, chair of the Senate Finance Committee and Sen. Geoff Michel,, R-Edina, assistant minority leader.

I would anticipate some discussion of Tom Scheck's story that the governor's proposal assumes property tax increases.

11:07 a.m. - "The governor set an appropriate direction," Michel said. "We're starting to see specific proposals and we're starting to digest what the federal money means."

Cohen says Pawlenty uses one-time money and says in the next biennium, "the budget falls off the cliff."

11:10 a.m. - Sen. Michel, asked if one-time money is preferable to a state-wide tax increase, he said a recession is not the right time to raise $2 billion in taxes. "At a minimum we should expect state government should live within its means and set some priorities." That may be a shot against the Pogemiller budget proposal that called for an across-the-board cut.

Cohen says using one-time money for a secure budget "makes no sense." Michel says the DFL is saying "the governor should cut more, but he's cut too much."

11:16 a.m. - Cohen says he's prefer tax increases to the use of one-time money. He says to raises taxes on the wealthiest is preferable "to kicking people who are least able to take care of themselves off the programs they need."

11:19 a.m. - The tax incidence study is being kicked around.

Listener questions

Q: Why are human services the first to be cut?

A: "That's the portion of the budget which is racing away at an unsustainable rate -- 22% was the projected increase over the next two years," Michel said. "This is the PacMan of the state budget."

"If we cut everything in state budget by 5% that's $1.5 billion... you're still short of solving the problem," Cohen said. Pressed on the lack of priorities in the Senate budget, Cohen said "it's a work in progress."

11:25 a.m. - Could K-12 be cut to restore some human service cuts? "There's been a lot of trimming going on in K-12," Sen. Michel said. Cohen says "at the end of the day when we pass K-12 out of the Senate, we'll have a smaller cut than what we show now."

11:39 a.m. - Do business owners have to have $250,000 in profit in order not to be included in an income tax increase for people making more than $250,000

According to MIchel, "92% of small businesses report business income on personal income tax. To lay out this tax increase as just a tax increase on the rich is wrong." Cohen notes businesses can deduct expenses so the number reaching adjusted gross income of $250,000 is much smaller.

11:42 a.m. South Dakota caller cites the number of businesses moving to South Dakota and says "Sen. Cohen is the best politician South Dakota can hope for.

"South Dakota is a state losing population," Cohen said.

11:46 a.m. - Caller says the state's economy has been doing down since the state cut taxes. Proper application of cause-and-effect?

11:49 a.m. - For every wealthy taxpayer the state loses, according to Cohen, "we have to fill that hole with 86 middle-income taxpayer.

11:51 a.m. - "Republican governors throughout the country have attempted to have a mixture of budget cuts and tax increases to deal with budget problems. That's why Minnesota has fallen behind; Governor Pawlenty has refused to look at anything," Cohen said.

11:56 a.m. - Michel asks, "what is reasonable" in the size of the budget?

11:57 a.m. - "Why not just paper over the budget, avoid taxes, under the assumption the economy will get better?" Eichten asks.

"It's a false premise," Cohen says. "You can't have a budget of that sort and not continue to run a significant deficit over the next two years. There is no economic projection to say the economic problems won't continue."

Says Michel" "We've got to deal with the jobs deficit. It's the only thing we should be working on for the next two months.

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Shining a light on Capitol access

Posted at 1:02 PM on March 16, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Media, Politics

This is Freedom of Information Day and it's also Sunshine Week, the week where journalists advocate -- more forcefully than usual -- greater access to government data and the secrets that government tries to keep.

And yet, journalists still argue that some of them should have more access than others.

The question of who should be allowed on the floor of the Minnesota House of Representatives came up today during a discussion on MPR's Midday broadcast, featuring Rich Neumeister, a citizen lobbyist and winner of the 2009 John Finnegan Award (MPR story about him here), and Mark Anfinson, the longtime attorney for the Minnesota Newspaper Association.

The controversy, simmering for years, has percolated at the Capitol this session as online-only media (which on a national scale was joined today by the Seattle Post Intelligencer) has asked for, and been denied, the same access to the House floor as mainstream media.

Neumeister advocated for the online journalists today. "There was a bill introduced dealing with criminal intelligence gathering. Law enforcement could gather intelligence on people who may or may not be a terrorist," he said. "I called a number of these bloggers, one of them decided to print the the story. Then Politics in Minnesota picked it up.I approached other people (mainstream media) and it was, 'Well, we're doing this,' and they don't have as many reporters anymore."

"The bigger change and the thing that's driven the Capitol and hearings is not fewer reporters, it's many, many more journalists driven by the online community," Anfinson said. "This same issue popped up during the Republican National Convention when the local law enforcement had a tough time distinguishing between mainline and people who called themselves journalists."

Anfinson says the controversy at the Capitol arose because "practical applications went smack against the doorway and the echo is still reverberating. You can't have everybody who claims to be a journalist going on the House floor. You just can't. We need to come up with solutions, but we can't rush them."

"In the good old days," he said, "the number of credentialed reporters were fairly limited. That allowed some familiarity to develop. They were allowed. What if 500 people want access? I'm not saying they should be excluded, but you can't approach this in a simplistic way."

Neumeister's solution, however, was to start by granting access to the online organizations that everyone agrees should get access, citing Politics in Minnesota (which rarely has had a problem with access because it was started by prominent lobbyists) and Minnpost.

He also said bloggers and online journalists should get the same access at committee hearings that members of the public do, let alone other journalists.

"I think bloggers should be able to go to committee hearings without credentials and do what they need to do to get the message out," he said. "Citizens do this all the time."

"Whether you call them citizens, journalists or citizen-journalists, they're coming to the courtrooms, the committee rooms and the statehouse to report on the government," Jane Kirtley, the University of Minnesota professor of media ethics, wrote in the Pioneer Press on Sunday. They have every right to be there, because you have every right to be there. It's your government at work. It's your business."

And because it is, Neumeister, as MPR's Tim Nelson pointed out, is "one of the state's foremost authorities on what Minnesotans know about the government and what the government knows about them."

What's bad about that?

Listen

Recommended reading: The State of the News Media 2009 (just out today.)

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An outdoors fight brews

Posted at 12:06 PM on March 16, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Granted it's not a very good map I've posted, but if you can see the red dots, you get the picture. The Lessard Outdoors Heritage Council, the group of citizens that recommends to the Legislature how outdoors money from the increased sales tax should be spent, has spread the projects around, mostly outstate.

Let the debate begin! Should the money be spent in proportion to where people live? Or where the habitat is? The two are often not quite the same.

Oh, wait, it already has.

Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, sees this partially as an economic stimulus plan, and says restoration of land (and there's plenty of land to be restored in the metro) creates jobs. "If you're doing wetland restoration, you're hiring a local contractor, you're buying local seed. If you're planting trees, you're buying trees from a local nursery," said Hanson. "So there's work involved with that, rather than just the acquisition."

But Dennis Anderson, the outdoors columnist at the Star Tribune, warns the Legislature against messing with the Council's recommendations.

ither way, none of this is happening in a vacuum. The constitutional amendment raising the sales tax was approved by nearly 60 percent of voters, and many voters said "yes'' because the Lessard council had been established to sift through and recommend fish and wildlife habitat proposals. Succinctly put: No one trusted the Legislature to do this correctly, absent a citizen-dominated advisory group.

Now, should the Legislature mess significantly with the Lessard proposals -- and the House apparently will try -- a rally is being considered on the Capitol mall by supporters, a rally that will make the similar gatherings there in 2005 and 2006 that attracted some 10,000 conservationists (combined) look like practice.

Over the next few weeks, plenty of sound bites will describe what the 60-percent of those who voted for the sales tax increase intended. If you voted for the increase, what was your intention?

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Pawlenty on CNBC

Posted at 9:29 AM on March 16, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Keeping track of the locals on the national stage today. Gov. Tim Pawlenty went on CNBC today.

Highlights:

The 'earmarks factory'

Posted at 10:44 AM on March 15, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

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Datagate redux

Posted at 9:14 PM on March 14, 2009 by Bob Collins (13 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

If you've been following old posts/comments (here and here), you know that I've been debating the release of the actual database that Norm Coleman's Web team apparently left exposed last January. Some people think exposing the private data of others is worth it in order to press the point that Coleman should've (a) locked down the data when local Web sleuths found it where it shouldn't have been and (b) should've followed state law by notifying people that their data had been exposed.

But did whoever leaked the database when it was discovered also contribute to the dangers that exposed data presents? InfoWorld's Robert X. Cringley gives the Coleman campaign the "what for," but reserves a small shot at the decision by wikileaks to post the data, even if part of it was removed.

Meanwhile, Wikileaks continues to walk a fine line between serving the public good and abetting private disasters. If my information were on either of those databases, I'd be unhappy with both Coleman and the whistle-blowers. They could have easily made their point and still redacted enough information to make it hard for thieves to get anything useful out of it.

Instead, it's party time for Net scammers, and Hell on earth for 50,000-plus Minnesotans who were just trying to support the candidate of their choice.

Not all are Minnesotans. Political blogger Eric Ostermeier has download the data and is using part of it to analyze Coleman's donors by occupation and geographic location and found most of them are out of state.

I asked Ostermeier on Friday whether he considered there to be an ethical considerations in using the leaked data, He responded that there are parts of the data that would be unethical to use, and parts that wouldn't.

Regarding the aggregated state-level data I analyzed on Thursday's blog, as well as the aggregated occupation-level data on today's blog, all of this information is publicly available through FEC Disclosure Reports (as well the amount contributed by each individual, and the city, zip code, and date of contribution).

What my blog did was simply report, at the aggregate level, on those 4,700+ compromised donors to Coleman's '08 campaign.

There is some data, obviously, that I consider "off-limits" and that is the data that is not publicly available - such as e-mail addresses, credit card information etc.

Your question gets to the 'fruits of the poison tree' dilemma, but, in my view, the ethical considerations are fairly black and white as to what can or should be analyzed.

(Update Sunday 10:41 p.m. - Eric provides a full post on the subject.)

Meanwhile, some criticism of Wikileaks may be coming after MinnPost reported that the site sent emails to everyone on the list looking for comment about the situation, and apparently claimed it was doing so on behalf of a pool of news organizations. Some news organizations have responded that they joined no such pool.

Update 9:27 a.m. Sun - Adria Richards, who found the database, was on MSNBC.

In other media interviews, and in her own video explaining how she found the data, she points out she did not download the database. "I won't download and acquire someone else's information without their permission even if it is legal to do so," she told me via Twitter.

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The new DFL

Posted at 10:51 AM on March 13, 2009 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Plenty of people, including some DFLers, are still shaking their head at the across-the-board cuts proposed by the Senate DFL caucus yesterday.

"The cuts fail to prioritize," Gov. Tim Pawlenty said on his radio show today. "Some things are more important than others."

Earlier this year, the architect of the DFL plan -- Sen. Larry Pogemiller -- agreed.

"If Minnesota wants to be on the cutting edge of educational achievement, investment in early childhood is essential. That's a fact; the research is overwhelming," Pogemiller told a summit on early childhood education "If we had $1 of new money, the best investment is education." Isn't that a priority? (Find the video on the Blandin Foundation Web site)

But just a few days later, Pogemiller said cuts to education would be required. "We are in a deteriorating situation," Pogemiller said. It is not in the long term interest of the state to try to do this with bubble gum and act like we're doing something," Polinaut's Tim Pugmire reported.

He didn't change his story earlier this month when he told TPT's Mary Lahammer that if education wasn't cut, "we'd have to cut everything else by 22 percent."

So Pogemiller's hatchet on the budget shouldn't have come as much of a surprise as it did. But it did.

DFLers proposing cuts to education -- especially early childhood education -- and Republicans proposing spending more on it is a paradigm shift that's going to take Minnesotans more than one legislative session to grasp.

The budget sets up a potential showdown between House and Senate DFLers. House members spent several days last month holding town meetings across the state to hear citizens' ideas on the state budget and the deficit and few recommended an across-the-board cut.

What do you think?

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The Obama Industrial Average?

Posted at 4:48 PM on March 12, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics

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Datagate

Posted at 1:51 PM on March 12, 2009 by Bob Collins (28 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Day 2 of the Coleman unsecured data controversy.

This afternoon, wikileaks, the whistleblower site that posted portions of the private data it downloaded from Norm Coleman's campaign Web site responded to some of the fallout from the release.

The highlights (I can't link to the page on which it's contained because the link is also on that page for the leaked data and I don't believe people's private information should be accessed.):

>> We don't just talk about neutrality--we practice it. Many of you have asked whether we would publish similar material from the Democrats. The answer is yes. All documents that fit our simple, transparent guidelines are released to the public. We are non-partisan and have published many documents considered to be supportive of Republican interests that have become major news items.

>> Coleman released full credit details, but Wikileaks did not.
Although the Coleman database contains full credit card numbers, security numbers and all personal necessary details needed to make a transaction. Wikileaks did not release these. Wikileaks released the last 4 digits and the security numbers only, and then only after notifying those concerned:

>> A number of people tried to raise the issue back in January, without releasing any information at all. There was no response from the Coleman Campaign and the material had been "floating around" the Internet for at least six weeks.

>>We would have liked donors to have had several days to digest the findings in private, but Senator Coleman decided to publicly "spin" the issue, forcing us to respond.

>>The database was made public by the Coleman Campaign.

>> There was no "hack".

Meanwhile, the Coleman campaign is waging its own campaign, setting up a page of allegations about the release of the data.

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Seeing the future

Posted at 1:07 PM on March 12, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

I don't pretend to understand all of the complexities of creating a budget for the state of Minnesota, but I can see the future.

Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller today unveiled his idea for balancing the state budget that includes spending cuts and unspecified "new revenue" (See Polinaut for more).

The future? In the next election, your mailbox will be flooded by the Republican Party with screenshots like this:

(MPR)

Which will be mixed in with a little story like this.

Minutes after the opening gavel, Senate Republicans proposed trimming travel and cutting their postage budgets by $56,000. In the House, Republicans tried to roll back per-diem payments to legislators and cut committees. The moves were symbolic, since DFL majorities in the House and Senate voted them down.

And then capped with a quote like this:

"What I sense is that there isn't a good understanding amongst the public that the negative fallout of trying to balance this budget is going to have an impact on every citizen in the state," said (Sen. Leroy) Stumpf. "And that's why E-12 and our education system will participate in that to some extent."

No matter how it's done, however lawmakers plug the budget deficit is going to come back to haunt them at election time.

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What state mandates should be eliminated?

Posted at 6:40 PM on March 11, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Question: Have you ever attended a Truth in Taxation hearing in Minnesota? Has it done any good?

Rep. Morrie Lanning of Moorhead thinks the state should get rid of the hearings, which are supposed to give the public a chance to comment on proposed budgets that are funded through the property tax.

They don't do any good, Lanning suggests in Tom Scheck's story about efforts to cut the number of state mandates on cities and counties:

Lanning is one of several lawmakers pushing mandate reform in the House. He said the hearings, which are required before a local government passes its budget, aren't useful because they come right before a budget is finalized.

"If you go back and look, I bet it would be rare to find any change in any budget anywhere that resulted from a truth in taxation hearing, simply because it came too late in the process," said Lanning.

Lanning said local governments would still have to notify people about the proposed budget, and the time and place when a budget hearing will take place.

Let's hear from you on this. Have you ever attended one of the hearings? Would you favor reducing state mandates on communities and, if so, which ones?

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Vets: Who pays for their treatment?

Posted at 3:21 PM on March 11, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Health, Politics

Veterans who are injured in battle would be required to pay for treatment of their injuries with private insurance under a plan being considered by the Obama administration, CNN reports. It says the idea has been confirmed by Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Currently, vets' insurance companies are billed when they're treated for non-service-related injuries and illnesses.

It's also a plan that's dead on arrival if the president decides to propose it, according to some influential lawmakers and , as you might expect, veterans groups are vehemently opposed to the plan (See a letter sent to the president).

Even the usually Obama-friendly Talking Points Memo criticizes the plan, saying it would put Obama further to the right of John McCain.

The idea, not surprisingly, never came up during the campaign, particularly at a stop in Fargo last year when Obama outlined his veterans' policy. "Caring for our veterans," he said, "is one thing that we can still get right," and promised to "fully fund VA health care."

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In the public interest?

Posted at 10:52 AM on March 11, 2009 by Bob Collins (28 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice, Politics

Contributors to Norm Coleman's election recount effort might want to cancel their credit cards, according to the campaign.

An e-mail circulated on Wednesday said the Web site, WikiLeaks, which specializes in providing an outlet for people who want to post secret information, has obtained private information from the campaign such as the credit card numbers of donors.

"Let me be very clear: At this point, we don't know if last evening's email is a political dirty trick or what the objective is of the person who sent the email," Campaign official Cullen Sheehan wrote in an e-mail to donors. "What we do know, however, is that there is a strong likelihood that these individuals have found a way to breach private and confidential information."

While the Coleman campaign e-mail notification might alert some of the donors, 1,500 of the nearly 5,000 people on the spreadsheet did not list an e-mail address.

Who's behind WikiLeaks? Julian Assange, an Australian living in Africa who was interviewed last summer (by email) by the Sydney Morning Herald. "In every negotiation, in every planning meeting and in every workplace dispute a perception is slowly building that the public interest may have a number of silent advocates in the room," Mr Assange said in an email interview. Wired.com published an extensive profile of him around the same time.

The question to ask, however, is whether there's a compelling "public interest" in releasing the (partial) credit card information of donors to a political campaign and, if so, what is it? The Coleman campaign may have violated several state privacy laws, but the punishment will be delivered to the innocent.

One of the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics is to "minimize harm," although it adds, "Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone's privacy." By providing links to the spreadsheet in question, have journalists overstepped their own code? Absolutely. Consider this item that's in the code: "Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others." One cannot criticize the Coleman campaign for not securing its data, while at the same time publishing -- or at least providing a direct link to -- that data.

Efforts to close the site down have failed, because of the nature of the Internet in the first place. The organization behind it registered its domain name in Nairobi, Kenya. Last month, a federal judge in San Francisco, citing 1st Amendment considerations, rescinded an order that disabled the Web site when it was registered through a California server. The original order stemmed from a Swiss bank's lawsuit against Wikileaks, which had posted 14 leaked documents about transactions at the bank.

It's also the site where a person who broke into then-VP candidate Sarah Palin's e-mail account posted the messages he retrieved.

Ironically, it also posted a leaked document containing the e-mail addresses of its own contributors.

There'll be plenty of questions for the Coleman's campaign alleged mishandling of data, but the story may also present a troubling picture of the collateral damage journalists' can inflict, too.

Update: MPR's Mark Zdechlik will update the story during this evening's All Things Considered.

Update 8:24 p.m. Twin Cities based computer consultant Adria Richards describes how she found the security breach.

This was really interesting. One key fact she dropped was "I didn't download anything; I just noticed that something wasn't right." I have found this to be a trait of I.T. professionals; they're not interested in spreading the information that they know should be locked down, they want the information locked down.

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Rediscovering Franken-Coleman

Posted at 4:13 PM on March 10, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The nation's heavyweight political bloggers have rediscovered the Minnesota Senate race for some reason this week. It comes on the day Al Franken took a semi-victory lap around the Capitol, and the day before Franken's team ends its case in the election trial.

The Hill reported that Sen. Harry Reid discussed committee assignments with Franken.

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza, who writes The Fix says the average Minnesotans "wants to move on from this story, the better for Franken -- thanks to the fact that he currently leads the race. Voters pay only marginal attention to elections in the immediate run-up to an election, and generally see politics as tangential (at best) to their daily lives."

Maybe, but that's what people were saying a week after the election, too. But ask almost any Web editor how their Web traffic is for a Franken-Coleman story, compared to almost any other story, and it's almost certain that the Franken-Coleman race remains a high priority for news consumers, even though they are, indeed, sick of it.

The L.A. Times also weighed in on the race in its Top of the Ticket blog, taking a whack at Franken for sounding like a politician, and using this clip as evidence:

Franken, for the average Minnesotans back here, stopped being a comedian almost two years ago, and has been a politician ever since because, well, that's what people who run for political office are.

The Left Coast also makes a funny over an old-timer's observation that they should just flip a coin, oblivious to the fact that Minnesota law requires exactly that in the case of a tie.

And finally, Michael Barone has just posted a column on his US News & World Report page saying it's time to revote the race, apparently oblivious to the fact there's no provision in Minnesota law for such a thing, according to Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

(MPR file photo/Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

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The big chill at the Capitol

Posted at 7:19 AM on March 10, 2009 by Bob Collins (23 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

DFLers at the Capitol are tackling a major problem that's developed during this session -- too many people want to tell Minnesotans what they're doing.

It started innocently enough. A few bloggers and online news organizations asked for the same access on the House and Senate floor as mainstream journalists.

That not only didn't happen, but yesterday, WCCO reported that the DFL cracked down on the filming of committee hearings. According to reporter Esme Murphy, the sergeant at arms has proposed a new sweeping set of restrictions that will prevent almost any TV coverage of hearings at the Capitol that the leadership doesn't want covered.

The apparent crackdown on coverage isn't just limited to TV reporters.

Don Davis, the Capitol reporter for Forum Communications' newspapers, says he was hassled while trying to cover a hearing.

Two hours after Wittenborg's meeting, I was trying to take a photo of Rep. Paul Marquart of Dilworth presenting a bill to a House committee. A page approached and asked to see my credentials before she would allow me to take photos. Recalling Wittenborg's assurances that no credentials were needed, I told her that I had just been told I did not need to present credentials (which, by the way, hung in plain sight from a lanyard around my neck) and I continued to photograph Marquart.

Soon after I returned to my seat in the back of the room, two state troopers approached me after the page had called them, apparently to kick out this photographer. Both had seen me plenty of times and knew I was legitimate, so gave me little hassle.

Not long after I returned to the office to write my story, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher called to apologize for the incident and promised it would be investigated. And Marquart called to apologize, even though he did not even know the troopers were talking to me at the time and had no knowledge of the proposed rule changes until I told him.

Earlier in the day, according to Marty Owings at the blog Radio Free Nation, reporters and bloggers gave House officials the "what for" over the issue:

Mary Lahammer of TPT's Almanac suggested that any lawyer who proposed these rules should be "disbarred". Tom Hauser from KSTP agreed and added that it was "absurd" that any Law Maker would even propose these rules. Jason Barnett of the Uptake.org asked what the real issue was. Mr. Whittenborg said it ran the gamut from "space concerns" to "security issues." He said some concerns were raised about who was filming Law Makers and that some of them were "weirded out" while others welcomed the cameras.

Mr. Whittenborg pointed out that Leadership was aware that there were cameras every where now and that they were looking at these issues. Everyone in the room, including Mr. Whittenborg agreed that restricting cameras was not a solution. What about space issues? Mr. Whittenborg mentioned that this could be a concern. Noah Kunin from the UpTake.org suggested that space be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.

"If there is an issue of decorum, safety or logistical space, elected leaders have appropriate methods in place. Rather than create additional rules that imply a person's credentials will be issued based on where a person works or how long a person will be reporting at the Capitol, SPJ would encourage legislative leaders to lessen the rules to allow more people to report in new and innovative ways to reach more of the public. The Legislature should establish equitable rules for all media, with no bias awarded anyone based on medium, method or viewpoint. If this proposal reflects the Legislature's attempt to do that, they have missed the mark."

The action comes at a time when legislative coverage is at an ebb. News organizations have cut reporters and time for legislative coverage, and Channel 17's all-day live coverage of the Legislature has disappeared for many viewers in the metro area because of the switch to digital programming.

There's virtually no reasonable case to be made that inviting a few bloggers in to inspect the workings of elected officials would cause an undue burden on the lawmakers who, for the record, asked for the job. The third month of the legislative session has started and the Legislature still hasn't produced a major piece of legislation or even an alternative to the budget proposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. And most of the critical decisions of the session will continue to be made behind solidly closed -- and occasionally guarded -- doors by a small handful of people.

Of all the problems currently facing the people of the state of Minnesota, being too informed about what the pols are doing at the Capitol isn't one of them.

Update 3:28 p.m. - It's worth reading Mary Lahammer's blog today. It sounded like things were cordial, but tense at the House Taxes Committee hearing today.

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The Labor Day standard

Posted at 11:34 AM on March 9, 2009 by Bob Collins (15 Comments)
Filed under: Politics, Schools

Go ahead and schedule your Labor Day vacation. A Minnesota House committee killed a bill late this morning that would've allowed schools to start classes before Labor Day.

It's not often that a one-sentence bill at the Legislature can get Minnesota worked up, but HF195, which went before the House Finance Committee today, is one such occasion.

Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 120A.40, a school district may begin the school year on any day before Labor Day only for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years.

Labor Day comes late this year (September 7), and some educators say that's too late. Graduations would be held in mid-June, proponents say. Besides, the kids in the band and football teams are already practicing by mid-August, according to Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, who is sponsoring the bill and is also a substitute teacher.

But the underlying issue is the economy, specifically the resort industry. If kids are back in school before Labor Day, they and their parents can't be spending the week at a campground or resort. And young summer employees can't be working if they're in school.

"They'll have about a 45 percent decline in booking," Rep. Larry Howes, R-Walker, said today. He said in 2004, the State Fair lost thousands of visitors because of an early school start date. He predicts the fair could lose up to $2.5 million in revenue if the bill becomes law.

"Labor Day is the largest vacation week in the state of Minnesota," he said. "It's not just the resorts, the airline industry loses bookings when school starts before Labor Day."

But Rep. Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan, says the economic argument is a shallow one. "It's a question of whether they're going to spend it at the end of the sumer, or at the beginning of the summer," he said.

"Rep. Norton picked the worst two years to try this," said Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia. "It's the worst years since the Depression. If you stop them from spending on Labor Day weekend, it's going to hurt those resorters. We don't need to put another nail in the coffin for rural Minnesota."

The not-until-Labor-Day policy of Minnesota schools -- Michigan and Virginia are the only two other states with the policy, according to Rep. Norton -- extends back to the state's agrarian history. The kids needed to help out on the farm.

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Transparency

Posted at 9:35 AM on March 9, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics

A year or so ago, I tried to find the number of people employed by the state of Minnesota. It took more than a dozen phone calls to find an agency of state government that knew, and even then the data was more than a year old.

So it's no surprise that Minnesota is one of the 19 states that hasn't set up a Web site to track how federal stimulus money is going to be spent, according to the Web site, ProPublica, which tracks these things.

At the same time, it's also not surprising to read in today's Star Tribune that one of the governor's policy advisors (why can't people who run the state agency's on behalf of the governor be his policy advisors?) is actually paid through the budget of seven state agencies.

What is surprising is that anyone could figure it out. Minnesota is not a candidate for "transparent state of the year."

The Minnesota Office and Management and Budget, formerly the Minnesota Department of Finance, posts -- for example -- salary information on its Web site, with information for eight different unions. As long as you're on the union's bargaining team and understand 11 different "step ranges" (or even know what a step range is) and 16 different "comp codes" (and what they are) you can figure out how much an information technology specialist makes. But you can't find out how many there, what they do, or whether we need so many of them.

A total compensation report is somewhat more illustrative of our budget dollars in the executive branch, but not for mere humans who want to figure out whether (a) money is being well spent and (b) how.

"Transparency" is the new buzz word in government. it's meant to provide all the details of where the money goes. It's mostly a dodge. Transparency isn't just throwing a blizzard of numbers at you for you to sort out, transparency is making it easy to sort out.

President Barack Obama's recovery.gov Web site is a good example. It intends to follow how the economic stimulus money is being spent, but there's no indication that it will. It's "news" section is simply puffed-up press releases to tout components of the plan. A section on "justice grants," for example, tells us about money being thrown at anti-crime programs, but it doesn't tell us that while the president promoted a graduating class of police recruits as evidence the stimulus plan is working, it doesn't mention that subsequent classes for potential recruits have been canceled.

A link on the page sends us to the Justice Department to find out how much each state will get. There, we download a spreadsheet for Minnesota and learn, for example, that $19,000 of the $2 billion is trickling down to South St. Paul. How is it going to be used? Call South St. Paul (Note: I did. I had to leave a message.). Now repeat that for every line item in the stimulus package and you've got your transparency. More likely? People trying to figure out will give up.

Is there a better way to do this? ProPublica thinks so; it points to Missouri's Web site to track how stimulus money will be spent. It lists only $223 million received for Medicare reimbursement, so far. But it provides e-mail alerts and RSS feeds as the money is spent.

It also has an area for people to make suggestions on how the money can be spent but, unfortunately, like the Minnesota Legislature's "submit your idea about the budget," it keeps the suggestions to themselves. Why?

How will we know whether the money is being spent correctly? The Boston Herald reports today that the feds are planning to go undercover to "monitor whether unqualified applicants try to obtain stimulus funds." That must be under the "spies" line-item.

Don't look for it on a Web site, though.

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Are voters smart enough to figure out election law on their own?

Posted at 9:21 AM on March 8, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Should election law be based on the presumption that voters are engaged and diligent?

University of Michigan Law School professor Ellen Katz has submitted a paper to the Minnesota Law Review contending that the Supreme Court under chief justice John Roberts is avoiding federal engagement in state voting rules, based on the presumption that voters are "both legally literate and diligent." You can download the paper from the Stanford Law School site.

But insofar as a new, unified approach to election law is emerging, last Term's decision suggest it has at least two prominent features. First, the approach makes meaningful political participation contingent on knowledge and skills that many voters simply lack. Legal literacy and diligence have become functional prerequisites to voting. The new approach, moreover, promises little and perhaps no federal assistance when voters fall short in what is required.

The Justices, of course, know that voters will fall short. The decisions allude to this circumstance and anticipate various actors will emerge to fill the void. The Court suggests that political parties have appropriate incentives to assist voters as they navigate the system--hence the standing granted to the Democratic Party in Crawford125--and to ensure that voters properly understand the legal regimes within which they act--by, for instance, making clear the significance of a candidate's party preference in Washington's top-two primary.

If I've read it correctly -- and there's no guarantee I have, being a non-lawyer -- Katz suggests that private individuals or organizations will spring forward to help the voter navigate the voting process that increasingly requires them to understand a byzantine process. What if they don't?

We are, of course, seeing the results of this process here in Minnesota. We're about to enter the seventh week of the election challenge trial of the U.S. Senate election, a process which itself is so complicated that more and more voters have disengaged from it, and just want to be told when Minnesota has a new senator.

When will that be? If you listen to the experts, it could be months as either side could appeal this "all the way to the Supreme Court." But if Katz is correct, the Senate is mess will be for Minnesota's Supreme Court to decide.

Most experts also predict changes in Minnesota's election law, especially in the area of absentee voting. If the Legislature tackles the issue, should it assume the voter is diligent and engaged? Or not?

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Bachmann: 'Democrats... will be coming after you, too.'

Posted at 10:36 PM on February 23, 2009 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

There's a seemingly endless political loop playing. Rep. Michele Bachmann says something controversial on one of her national media appearances. The Democrats send out a news release pointing out her statements and asking for cash. Rep. Bachmann counters with a fundraising e-mail letter.

Here's the version that just arrived:

The Democrats claim they just want the "rich" to pay their fair share. But, we all know their definition of rich includes more and more middle class Americans each year. Just ask any struggling family farmer who worries about the cost of the death tax. Or ask any middle class family that suddenly realizes it has to pay the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

The Democrats' wealth redistribution scheme can't continue on this runaway path. Sooner or later, they'll be coming after you too.

And, because I dare to say so, they're targeting all their resources to defeat me. They'll stop at nothing to take your voice away in Congress.

On the AMT issue, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported last week that 18 percent more filers will escape the tax this year.

If some of the stopgaps from recent years hadn't been passed, according to Brookings, about 37 percent of households with adjusted gross incomes of $50,000 to $75,000 would have had to pay AMT in tax year 2010, as would 73 percent of those with incomes of $75,000 to $100,000.

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Body language

Posted at 6:17 PM on February 23, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics

It was another horrible day in the equity markets. The last time the market was this low -- 1997 -- Brad Radke was winning 20 games as a 24-year old for the Minnesota Twins. Yeah, that long ago.

Usually, stories about rough days on Wall Street are accompanied by the cliche picture of a stock exchange trader.

Today, however, let's look at the body language of the nation's governors and the president and vice president as they met in Washington.

Where have I seen this expression before?

(Photos via Getty Images)

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Find the Republican governors

Posted at 3:00 PM on February 23, 2009 by Bob Collins (10 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

From what we can tell, Gov. Tim Pawlenty didn't get a prime seat at the White House today when the nation's governors met with President Barack Obama. You'll have to click these to see the larger images.

We can't find him to Obama's right.

We don't see him to the left:

And he didn't make the photo op in front of the White House, which he's considering running for in 2012.

Truth be told, though, we don't see good seats being given to many of the Republican governors who aren't making their presidential aspirations a secret. But, Bobby Jindal got a corner seat (in the first image).

(Photos by Dennis Brack-Pool/Getty Images)

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Required reading: The Kennedy series

Posted at 1:35 PM on February 23, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Boston Globe is running a series on the life of Ted Kennedy. Its online component should be a warning shot across the bow of the newfangled media that predicts the demise of the newspaper newsroom. People in the business are still kicking.

In the second chapter, there is a compelling segment when Minnesota's Walter Mondale recalls the funeral of Bobby Kennedy at about the 6 minute part of the Chapter 2 video.

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Waiting for instructions

Posted at 8:47 AM on February 22, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics

"I don't want to pretend that today marks the end of our economic problems. But today does mark the beginning of the end," President Barack Obama said on Tuesday when he signed the economic stimulus bill. It was a rare message of hope from a president who campaigned his way to the White House on the theme.

Has the president, who has got a big speech to give on Tuesday, become too much of a downer? Are we in such denial that we need to be told how bad things are... again?

Writing in the New York Times this weekend, Frank Rich chronicles Americans' ability to deny bad news and accept the enormity of the economic crisis. What is a president to do?

Pity our new president. As he rolls out one recovery package after another, he can't know for sure what will work. If he tells the whole story of what might be around the corner, he risks instilling fear itself among Americans who are already panicked. (Half the country, according to a new Associated Press poll, now fears unemployment.) But if the president airbrushes the picture too much, the country could be as angry about ensuing calamities as it was when the Bush administration's repeated assertion of "success" in Iraq proved a sham. Managing America's future shock is a task that will call for every last ounce of Obama's brains, temperament and oratorical gifts.

More than half of America now fears unemployment, one in 10 homes are in foreclosure, retirements are now unattainable. Minnesota courts are about to let scofflaws run amok, and the nation is running out of rich people. The economic recession was felt out here in the working world long before it reached the cubicles of the New York Times or, most certainly, the Oval office.

We get it. The economy is bad. Really bad.

While Rich wonders whether Americans will "get it," his op-ed page colleague, Maureen Dowd, wonders whether it's Washington that fails to grasp the reality of the situation.

President Obama disdains sound bites, and he does not have Bill Clinton's talent for reducing the abstruse to aperçus. We wanted someone smart to gather a bunch of smart people around him to get us out of this fix. But Mr. Obama's egghead manner has failed to soothe a nation with the jits. Maybe he has been so intent on avoiding the stereotype of the Angry Black Man, as he wrote in his memoir, that it's hard for him to connect with and articulate public anger about our diminishment.

Though he demonstrated in the campaign that he has a rare gift for inspiring the country with new belief in itself, Mr. Obama has not yet captured either the grit the moment requires or the fury it provokes. He has not explained in a compelling way why Americans who followed the rules need to sacrifice more to help those who flouted the rules.

Part of the problem, perhaps, is that politicians use speeches to us, not to talk to us, but to send messages to each other. When the president tells us how bad things are, he's talking to Republicans who don't support his proposed his solution. Here in Minnesota, the DFL, for example, is engaged in "listening sessions" around the state to come up with ideas for closing the state's budget gap. When they heard the first one the other night in St. Cloud, that was one more than the DFL has presented, since it's yet to propose an alternative to the governor's budget. Lawmakers, no doubt, have their own ideas how to do it, but the "inner cynic" can be forgiven for thinking they want the political cover of full meeting rooms in small towns across Minnesota first.

Meanwhile, Minnesotans -- and most Americans -- wait for instructions on what we are supposed to do now about the situation, the extent of which we know only too well.

What is the one message you want to hear from the politicians and pundits now?

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Goodbye, Legislature

Posted at 7:19 AM on February 20, 2009 by Bob Collins (16 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

This probably wasn't the best time to make the Minnesota Legislature invisible, but that's just what TPT-17 has done by eliminating daily coverage of the Minnesota Legislature on its main channel. Legislative coverage on free TV is one of the little facts of Minnesota life that made our political process so transparent.

TPT has substituted "lifestyle programming" instead. As I write this, we're all watching how to make equidistant, light hem stitching on Sewing with Nancy. It's fascinating, sure, but you can't close the big budget gap with pinking shears, except in a metaphor.

Granted, it's highly unlikely the calls are pouring into the TPT headquarters with people demanding access to the K-12 Mandate Reduction Work Group session, but it's rarely a good thing when fewer eyes have access to what politicians are doing.

TPT has moved the Legislature to its "digital tier," which you can get if you have the correct cable TV tier or have over-the-air access and you can perform the pat-your-head-rub-your-belly method of finding new channels. If you have Dish Network or DirectTV, you're out of luck.

You can still see the Legislature on its Web site.

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The veteran football

Posted at 12:58 PM on February 19, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Was a flap on the House floor about veterans, "gotcha" politics - Minnesota style?

Things got a little hot on the floor this afternoon when a lawmaker recommended pensions for retired military veterans be deductible from taxable income in the state. The amendment to a tax bill came from Rep. Dan Severson, a Sauk Rapids Republican and veteran. He said it would create jobs by attracting veterans to the state.

"There are a lot of veterans who will get this who were never in a combat zone," said Rep. Al Juhnke, a DFLer from Wilmar, whose son is in Iraq.

Rep. Bev Scalze noted there are other people from Minnesota in harm's way -- she cited police officers -- who aren't getting a tax break.

"Let's not just talk about them (veterans) being a priority, let's show them," countered Republican Tom Emmer.

House Minority Leader Marty Seifert said there are only six states that don't offer a tax break for military pension earnings. "We have ways to pay for this, we're just not voting for any of them," he said.

Rep. Ann Lenczewski, who chairs the Taxes Committee, said the Legislature has already doubled combat pay for active military, provided property tax relief for veterans, and "did things for the VFWs and American Legions." She said it was unfair to give breaks to career military members, and not to active members.

"The poor grunt who's coming back from Iraq is going to have his earnings taxed to pay for this," Rep. Tom Rukavinia, DFL-Virginia, said. "It doesn't seem fair that someone making $100,000 a year is going to get a $2,000 tax break while we raise taxes to help other veterans who don't get a tax break."

Some lawmakers contend the amendment was an attempt to get legislators on record "opposing veterans."

The amendment failed, mostly along party lines, 70-57.

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Interior design showdown

Posted at 1:51 PM on February 17, 2009 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

It's days like this when I wish the Minnesota Fantasy Legislature was still around. A bill that got a hearing in a Senate committee today is the type we used to sink our teeth into -- the kind that would get almost no coverage.

SF376 requires the licensing of interior designers:

Any person shall be deemed to be practicing licensed interior design within the meaning of sections 326.02 to 326.15 who holds out as being able to perform or does perform any professional service in connection with the planning, design, or administration of construction for the purpose of ensuring compliance with specifications and design of any private or public interior spaces, including preparation of documents relative to non-load-bearing interior construction, programming, space planning, finishes, materials, and furnishings where the safeguarding of the occupants' life, health, safety, welfare is concerned or involved, when the professional service requires the application of design theories related to human behavior and aesthetics, acquired by education and experience. Licensed interior designers are design professionals who are qualified by means of education, experience, and examination.

This is a legislative initiative of the International Interior Design Association Northland. It says licensing will make sure that poisonous toxins are kept out of your workplace, fire retardant substances are used, and more effort will be made toward using renewable materials. The group's top 10 list of reasons to support the bill includes, "to keep your wrists and backs in good health through the personal application of ergonomic standards."

Apparently, this is causing quite a stir nationwide between designers and remodelers. Other states have also moved to license interior designers, according to a blog called Interior Design Freedom Coalition.

"This bill will add nothing to the health, safety and welfare of the public. Rather, it will enable a handful of interior designers to corner the design market at the expense of our members and others in the design community who will essentially be barred from working. Study after study has shown no evidence to suggest that harm is occurring to the public as a result of the unregulated practice of interior designers," it said last year when a similar bill was filed.

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Next?

Posted at 3:22 PM on February 12, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The "bipartisan thing" didn't work for Judd Gregg, and it's not going so well for Barack Obama either..

Doomed from the start, the New Hampshire senator withdrew his nomination as Commerce Secretary over differences with the White House about who should oversee the Census.

Gregg's statement confirms this:

"However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy."

Then, in the best traditions of politics, he then unsheathes the sword.

"Obviously the President requires a team that is fully supportive of all his initiative."

Ouch.

This makes two nominees for commerce secretary who have withdrawn their nominations.

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Who needs bipartisanship?

Posted at 11:23 AM on February 7, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Nate Silver, the statistics guru who migrated from baseball to politics and runs the site FiveThirtyEight.com, notes that Barack Obama's approval ratings have dropped and comes up with three things the president appears to have learned.

It's #3 that may be the most signfiicant, because it's less about him and more about us:

3. The benefits of "bipartisanship" are dubious. The public says they want bipartisanship, and a large majority of the public believes that Obama acted in a bipartisan fashion during the stimulus debate. And yet, his approval ratings fell significantly during this period.

There are, obviously, a lot of factors to keep in balance here, but more than anything else the public seems to be seeking strong leadership from Obama; they don't want him to be deferential to either Congressional Democrats or Congressional Republicans.

So, are we done with the whole "working together" thing?

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Issues creep back into Senate race dialogue

Posted at 1:36 PM on February 6, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Here's something we haven't heard the two "finalists" for the U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota talking about in months: Issues. Norm Coleman and Al Franken have come out of -- more or less -- hiding today. They're holding individual sessions with reporters.

Most of the talk, naturally, is about their continuing recount/court challenge to last November's vote, but MPR's Tom Crann pushed some issues during his interviews. Coleman said he does not support the Obama economic stimulus package.

"I'm trying to be ready; that's one of the challenges," Coleman said. "I've talked to Sen. Susan Collins. We need to move this economy forward, but on the other hand we can't be spending tens or hundreds of billions of dollars on things which have no impact on economic reform."

Coleman returned to the spotlight by attending several of the hearings in his lawsuit filed after the official recount showed him losing to Al Franken by a few hundred votes.

"I don't know if there is a next step," Coleman told Crann (Listen) when asked what the next step is if a count of additional absentee ballots shows him losing to Franken. Coleman said he's learned a lot about elections in Minnesota by sitting in the court and listening to election experts (one of whom was on MPR's Midday today).

Franken says he'd be a vote for Obama's stimulus package if he were in the Senate.

"I don't think there's too much in the bill," he said. " We need this and I believe most Americans want this but most Americans are skeptical about whether this is going to do the job and they deserve to know that this money is going to be spent wisely." (Listen)

"One of the things I've done to be ready is talk to Collin Peterson's staff about layoffs at the Polaris plant up in Roseau. There is a flood mitigation project there -- shovel ready -- in the stimulus package... and I think it would be good for us to have two votes. Same token: This buy-America provision that's in the package, that's a very good thing for the Iron Range ... that the stimulus projects have American steel in them, that's a huge boon for the Iron Range," he said. (Listen)

Franken acknowledged that waste and abuse of stimulus money is a possibility. He said he favored creation of a Truman Commission to find instances of fraud and abuse. As a senator, Harry Truman uncovered millions of dollars in waste in the prosecution of World War II.

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Pawlenty to Munich

Posted at 11:33 AM on February 6, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

When Gov. Tim Pawlenty flew to Germany last year to attend a conference on terrorism and security, there were a few suggestions that the governor was burnishing his credentials in the interest of ending up on the presidential ticket. At the time, the governor dismissed the suggestion, saying he was invited because he chaired the National Governors Association. But we were all in "he wants to be vice president" mode, despite his denials (at the time), and all of his moves were run through the VP aspirations filter.

As I pointed out last year, only one other governor with NGA connections had been invited in the previous nine years.

The governor is no longer head of the National Governors Association, and he's back in Munich as the conference opens its 2009 session.

This year's rationale: Minnesota is sending National Guard soldiers to Iraq, so "it's helpful to have a deep understanding of security issues," his spokesman said.

The federal government is paying the bill.

Aside: The U of M's Smart Politics blog does a nice analysis of Gov. Pawlenty's approval ratings and says anyone who thinks the governor will lose popularity in a budget showdown with the DFL should think again.

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Barack Obama's bad week

Posted at 10:13 AM on February 6, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Just a couple of days after Barack Obama nominated New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg to be the Secretary of Commerce, there's an indication the new president doesn't trust his new nominee, at least when it comes to the delicate matter of the U.S. Census.

According to Congressional Quarterly:

After black and Hispanic leaders raised concerns over Commerce Secretary-nominee Judd Gregg 's commitment to core functions of the Census Bureau, a senior White House official told CQ on Wednesday that the director would report directly to the White House.

That brought fire Thursday from Republicans, who accused the White House of attempting to gain advantage in the politically delicate process of counting Americans and of violating the law by circumventing the Commerce secretary. The decennial census is used to determine the apportionment of congressional districts among the states and federal funding for numerous programs.

Yesterday the New York Times criticized Obama's pick:

Mr. Gregg was never a friend of the census. As chairman of the Senate committee that oversees the Commerce Department's budget, he frequently tried to cut the bureau's financing. In 1999, he opposed emergency funds for the 2000 census requested by President Bill Clinton and the Republican-controlled House.

The census is used to allocate federal aid to states and draw electoral districts. Given all that, one would think that the White House would be paying more attention. It isn't. A director of the census, who must be confirmed by the Senate, has yet to be named.

And this all follows the fallout of two nominees who ended up having tax problems. And some Obama supporters are frustrated by the the attitude of the White House press corps.

President Obama is having a really terrible week.

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Lawmakers target ethanol subsidies

Posted at 5:10 PM on February 5, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics

As I mentioned at the time, one of the things that jumped out from Gov. Pawlenty's proposed budget is that he didn't touch the state subsidy to ethanol producers. In 2007, the state paid $15 million to ethanol producers, and in the last big budget deficit, the state delayed the payments. Pawlenty, who has become an evangelist for ethanol, tried to eliminate the then-$27 million subsidy in his first year in office.

Today, seven House DFLers -- mostly city slickers -- introduced a bill that would repeal the state subsidy. The state sends checks to farmers who own ethanol plants four times a year.

In a recent interview, legislative leaders didn't appear warm to repealing the subsidy:

As the session continues, the possibility increases of the city vs. rural legislative feuds reigniting. Within the last week some rural lawmakers filed legislative to divert transit funds to school transportation budgets.

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The most fascinating interview of the year

Posted at 10:22 AM on February 4, 2009 by Than Tibbetts (8 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

For my money, this was the most fascinating five minutes of video I've seen this year. Watch the body language as David Letterman turns the screws on Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

What's being said unsaid?

I am by no means a paralinguist, but surely you come away with some kind of conclusion watching Blago talk about his impeachment.

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The question

Posted at 5:57 AM on February 4, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

With several members of the Obama administration (or almost members of the Obama administration) caught up in ethics woes, we wondered aloud on The Current yesterday whether the exhaustive questionnaire that the Obama transition team used to check out potential candidates had any question on there like, "is there anything you don't want us to know about?"

It turns out, there was.

(h/t/ @vtuss via Twitter)

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Five bills worth visiting before they die

Posted at 3:20 PM on February 2, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The most interesting bills at the Capitol are the ones that have little chance of passage this year. Here's the Fab Five from today's filings:

Lower drinking age
Rep. Phyllis Kahn, who in the past has proposed lowering the voting age to 16, has filed legislation lowering the drinking age to 18 at bars and restaurants. She would allow 16 years olds to drink in the company of their parents. (See bill)

Property tax discount
Would you pay your entire year's property tax if you got a 2 percent discount? Rep. Paul Kohls' bill would provides such a discount. (See bill)

Majority vote
This could also be called the "Keep the Independence Party from ever Winning an Election Act of 2009." Rep. Kent Eken's bill would require candidates in elections for governor, executive branch, judge, senator or representative get the majority of votes in the election. The stronger a third party becomes in Minnesota, the more a provision like this would be employed. (Read bill)

Is the legislative employee carbon footprint that big?
Rep. Denny McNamara's bill allows legislative employees to work from home for up to 20 percent of the days when the Legislature is not in session or allow them to work four 10-hour days instead. (See bill)

What part of the 2nd Amendment don't you get?
Rep. Larry Howes is proposing an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution:

The right of a citizen to keep and bear arms for the defense and security of the person, family, or home or for lawful hunting, recreation, or marksmanship training is fundamental and shall not be abridged.

Didn't the U.S. Supreme Court just clarify that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution pretty well covers this? (See bill)

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Turning to the tools

Posted at 12:42 PM on February 2, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics

The Obama administration has turned to its giant database of supporters (and others), which it assembled during the campaign, to garner support for the economic stimulus plan.

In an e-mail this afternoon, the administration is organizing meetings this weekend for people to watch a video from Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, answering questions about what the stimulus plans means for you. You can submit questions here.

Obama assembled an impressive technological array of tools to get elected, and this is the first time it's been deployed in support of legislation which has very little Republican support.

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The new boss

Posted at 3:36 PM on January 30, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Republican Party has a new boss. Michael Steele won the battle of more than a half dozen candidates. That sent me to the MPR archives to find the speech he gave at the Republican National Convention in New York in 2004.

At the time, he got a pretty good shot in at an upcoming politician. "I was going to give a strong defense of conservative values tonight," he said. "But Barack Obama gave it last month."

Here's the speech. Unfortunately, it's in RealAudio format.

What else did I find in the archives? This picture of he and Gov. Tim Pawlenty. One might think that their futures are now intertwined.

That picture is from a FoxNews Sunday appearance where Pawlenty and Steele took their party to task.

Here's his speech in St. Paul last summer.

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On Campus: Facing roadblocks

Posted at 11:01 AM on January 29, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Health, News Cut on Campus, Politics

MPR's Midday program continues the examination of Gov. Pawlenty's proposed budget cuts during its first hour today. University of Minnesota president Robert Bruininks and James McCormick, chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System are the guests.

Their view is how it looks from their offices. But the human face of the budget proposals can best be found at the micro-level.

Take Joe Neumayer, who I met yesterday during my visit to Minneapolis Community and Technical College. He says he "feels God's calling" to be a certified nursing assistant. He's also on General Assistance, and stands a chance of being caught up in the proposed cuts. The eligibility for General Assistance may be pared to the federal poverty level.

"You almost can't be working (to get help)," he said, which is a problem for him since the entire point of his going back to school and getting help is that he can work.

"I'm trying to get off it, but I have a problem where I start jobs and have to quit due to my depression, but I'm trying to overcome that," he said. "I'm trying to see doctors and psychiatrists. But I'm trying real hard out there; I'm pressing forward."

He's also concerned about whether higher education cuts will make it too difficult to get the training he needs to become a nurse assistant.

"You've got people who have mental illnesses that need this type of program. They have no choice," he said. "They can't go to work. They're also seeing psychiatrists and doctors. Then you have people taking advantage of the system. Those people need to be addressed. We can't have that go on. If they're going to do any cuts, they need to cut the people just coming into the program and look at what their mental illness is."

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A return to the right

Posted at 9:51 AM on January 29, 2009 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)
Filed under: Media, Politics

CNBC's resident curmudgeon Mark Haines let talk show host Rush Limbaugh have it today. The media has suddenly rediscovered Limbaugh, and has taken him to task for saying he hopes Barack Obama fails. Limbaugh, has a commentary in today's Wall St. Journal called "My bipartisan stimulus."

"I'm just trying to build roads and bridges to the administration for bipartisanship and fairness," he said in his introduction.

Nobody will ever confuse Haines with the liberal media, so this exchange was significant.

Haines: I'm sorry, but a week after the inauguration, you said you "hope he fails." Are you now admitting that that was a stupid and mean-spirited thing to say?

Limbaagh: No, it was an accurate thing to say. It was an honest thing to say. It came after...

Haines: How is that bipartisan?

Limbaugh: Well,let me explain...

Haines: Well, so far you haven't.

Limbaugh: You're being contentious with no reason. It came after a thorough explanation on my part that liberalism, which is what Obama represents...

Haines: (Somewhat off microphone) Ah, geez....

Limbaugh: ... destroys the free market, destroys capitalism. This stimulus plan is all about re-FDRing America... the new New Deal and as a conservative, I want liberalism to fail. i want the country to succeed and that's what I meant and that's what I said over and over again. You've got to stop reading these left-wing liberal media...

Haines: I just listen to you, Rush, I don't listen to anybody. I listen to you, and what I hear is hypocrisy. You are saying in this piece, you say :

The American people are made up of Republicans, Democrats, independents and moderates, but our economy doesn't know the difference. This is about jobs now. The economic crisis is an opportunity to unify people, if we set aside the politics.

Haines: ... and yet the first thing out of your mouth is politics, about liberal and conservative and Republican and Democrat.

Limbaugh: (Stumbling) You know, this vote that happened in the house yesterday is actually a failure. The bipartisan vote was the defeat; 11 Democrats, 20 Republians. The partisan vote was all Democrats. He wants Republicans on the bill, Mark, because he knows this isn't going to work. He wants Republicans so he has cover, so they can't run for re-election, saying this wasn't his debacle. I'm trying to propose something here that will work, for the best of the country. How can that be hypocritical.

Eventually, Haines' co-host, took over the interview from Haines, reassuring America that what Limbaugh really meant was that he hopes liberalism fails.

But before ending, Haines got one more shot in.

Haines: Here's something I find interesting. You talk about the vote being roughly 54 to 46 in favor of Obama... but when the vote was 51-49, I don't remember you being this concerned about Republicans.

Limbaugh: I think bipartisanship is a joke.

The resurrection of Democrats in Washington is the best thing that could have happened to right-wing talk radio -- and Limbaugh's career in particular. It's led some to suggest that Limbaugh, rather than party leaders, is now the new face of the Republican Party.

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To the victors go the...

Posted at 7:46 AM on January 28, 2009 by Bob Collins (19 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Sen. President Barack Obama knows how to send a pointed message. On Monday, he granted his first interview to a news organization in the Middle East. On Tuesday, he made his first visit to the Capitol to reach out to congressional Republicans in an effort to get some traction for his stimulus package.

Republicans aren't ready to jump on the bandwagon, yet. But a 'tweet" (a message on Twitter) posted by one of the Republicans who attended -- Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan -- would at least appear to usher in a general spirit of working together.

"Very impressive session with Republican House members.If President carries this on it does open door for a new tone!Let's hope! Nice job!"

President Obama, himself, said all the right things:

"I hope I communicated a sincere desire to get good ideas from everybody," he added. "My attitude is this the first major piece of legislation we've worked on, and that, over time, some of these habits of consultation and mutual respect will take over, but old habits die hard."

That phrase -- old habits -- could've been referring to any number of things, but one wonders if it refers -- at least somewhat -- to Democrats, especially given the comment of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she was asked why there are virtually no suggestions from Republicans being included in the House version of the stimulus package.

"We had an election which was about our differing views. The American people agreed with us."

So much for the "we represent all Americans" cliche. Never mind that 22 of 50 states voted for Republicans, or that the difference between winning and losing for Democrats in 3 of 4 battleground states was 2 percent of the vote.

That, of course, led to a question for the speaker about what her comments say about bipartisanship.

"It says that some of us have heard the voices of the American people and their desire for change..."

And some have not?

To turn this around a bit, Gov. Pawlenty won an election, too. And yesterday he announced several initiatives including eliminating help for people with traumatic brain injuries and disabilities, as well as older people at risk of nursing home placement, according to a Star Tribune assessment.

Maybe you agree with that. Maybe you don't.

Does an election make the question moot?

Program alert: At 11 a.m. on MPR's Midday today, House Republican Minority Leader Marty Seifert and Senate Assistant DFL Majority Leader Tarryl Clark will join Gary Eichten to respond to the governor's budget proposal.

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Wash. Rinse. Repeat

Posted at 4:41 PM on January 26, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics

Does it ever seem to you like you've heard all the news before about the state budget quagmire? Much of the talk surrounding the present situation focuses on "the future." So it seems like a good time to go into the News Cut Wayback Machine. Setting: Fourth Monday in January 2003.

Here's the MPR newscast scripts from that date:

* * * *

House DFLers are calling a Republican budget balancing plan too harsh to the state's most vulnerable. The House is scheduled to begin debate today on a budget balancing bill. House Republicans are proposing a 468 million dollar budget balancing plan that includes spending cuts and one-time money. DFLers are urging House members to adopt a budget balancing plan that passed the Senate last week. The smaller Senate package uses spending shifts, cuts and one time money. DFL Representative Carlos Mariani says the House plan unfairly targets the poor.

* * * *

Governor Pawlenty continued his tour of greater Minnesota today to promote tax-free zones. Pawlenty and members of the Minnesota House have offered the plan as a way to stimulate business and job creation. Pawlenty told an audience in Luverne that tax-free zones are the "mother of all economic development incentives." He says a particular area or collaboration of counties would be encouraged to come together and develop regional or theme-based tax-free zones.

* * * *

Senate Republicans are proposing a two-year pay freeze for all public sector employees in Minnesota to help reduce the state deficit. They say keeping salaries constant could produce one billion dollars or more in savings. The plan would affect state workers as well as employees in cities, counties, school districts and universities. State allowances to all government entities would be reduced to account for the lack of pay raises. By the Senate GOP's estimate, Minnesota has 350-thousand public sector employees. Senate Minority Leader Dick Day of Owatonna says a freeze is a more compassionate way to cut costs than layoffs. But he won't guarantee that everyone would keep their job.

* * * *

Governor Pawlenty says he'd prefer to continue full subsidies for Minnesota's ethanol industry -- but the state's budget crisis will force tough choices. The governor spoke in Luverne yesterday. His short-term deficit reduction plan includes a proposal to eliminate almost 27 (m) million dollars in subsidies to ethanol plants. But Pawlenty says most ethanol facilities will continue to be profitable even without the subsidies. On a tour to support his plan for out-state tax-free zones, Pawlenty said he's open to the legislature reinstating some of the ethanol subsidy reductions in his budget proposal -- as long as lawmakers find the money to solve the budget deficit somewhere else.

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Live-blogging: Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Midday

Posted at 10:56 AM on January 26, 2009 by Bob Collins (23 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The governor is making one of his rare visits to Minnesota Public Radio today (in the old days, Midday was able to get a sitting governor to come in once a month).

This is the pre-game show for the big bomb that he'll deliver on Tuesday when he announces cuts in the state budget. He had an article in yesterday's Star Tribune op-ed section. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to read it. Besides, everything I've heard coming out of the Capitol up to now, I've heard a thousand times before. The DFLers are saying the usual things the DFL says, the GOP is saying the usual things the GOP says, and the governor has been saying the usual things the governor says.

Despite the initial talk of bipartisanship at the Capitol, both sides are girding, obviously, for a last-week-of-the-session "solution" to what ails us. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine who occupies a position of some power in a state agency told me they're already preparing for a special session.

So I'm live-blogging and let me know if you hear anything new. Anywhere.

11:07 a.m. Gary asks for a sneak preview. "There's nothing surprising in it," the governor said, noting it'll have to change in a few weeks since the February forecast will change things, and the state doesn't know how the bailout package is going to shake out. "It'll be a good start," he said.

11:09 a.m. - The governor says the two-year budget since Gov. Elmer Andersen has increased 19 percent on average. "That is not sustainable," he said. He says the world is not the same as 20 years ago and Minnesota needs to look at that landscape. It needs to find out where our competitive advantage is, he said.

11:11 a.m. - Why no tax increases? "Even Barack Obama isn't threatening to raise taxes now," the governor said.

11:12 a.m. - The governor didn't answer Gary's question about whether he'll veto any tax increase or whether there's room for negotiation, saying only that Minnesota has become less competitive for business.

11:13 a.m. - Does cutting corporate taxes send the wrong message to people who are going to be losing services? Gov. Pawlenty said it's a move for the future and business has said Minnesota is too expensive to do business in. He talks about publicly subsidized health care programs (note: He needs to begin making a distinction here on what he's talking about. MinnesotaCare, is a publicly subsidized health care program which is paid for by a tax on health care providers. The governor has regularly used a surplus in the fund to balance the budget)

LISTENER QUESTIONS

Q: What can local governments expect (local government aid?)
A: Less money. "That's just a function of the budget crisis."

Q: How can Minnesota keep good educators here?
A: Our school system is outdated. The governor will propose a 5-percent increase in the general education formula and a 2-percent increase in the per-pupil formula. But it will be tied to performance.

Q: Will most school districts end up with more money?
A: Yes. Schools will be required to use Q-comp

During a discussion about business, the governor said, "If we don't get serious about making this a better place for business.... we're going to be in deeper trouble."

This brings up a question we've kicked around before: Why would a business want to do business here? It's cold, for one thing. What is it about Minnesota, under any scenario, that makes it a place businesses -- big businesses with lots of jobs -- would want to reside?

Q: What's your timetable for tuition caps for higher education?
A: "We should force the systems to not force whatever challenge they face onto the students," the governor said. He said the schools will "squeal about it." He said there should be a pay freeze for higher education employees. Beyond that, he didn't answer the question from the caller.

This just in... related to the economy:

Hennepin County Medical Center will eliminate almost 100 jobs by the end of February. The medical center is also freezing capital spending that does not have a binding contract to purchase or construct in place. Approximately 80 percent of the jobs to be eliminated are currently vacant, but the remainder of the cuts will be a combination of layoffs and reduced hours.

The cuts are necessary to deal with the governor's unallotment reduction of $73 million in state Health and Human Services funding announced Dec. 19. Of that, more than 15 percent - $12 million - comes directly from funding to support care and teaching at Hennepin County Medical Center, including a $5 million cut to Medical Assistance supplemental payments for providing care to the poor, and a $7 million reduction in medical education payments to help offset the costs of training residents and medical students. When combined with the $7 million lost due to rate reductions and rebasing delays approved during the 2008 legislative session, the total loss in state funding is $19 million for 2008 and 2009.

-- News release from Hennepin County Medical Center

Q: How has accounting "gimmicks" you used in 2003 affect us today?
A: As a percent, the deficit was comparable to what we're facing now. A big chunk of '03 was spending "cuts." Many people refer to cuts as a lack of a spending increase. "If you listen to my critics, you'd think we took a blow-torch to the budget." He says the reality is we only slowed increases.

Let's hit the Wayback Machine on that one:

"Tim Pawlenty has taken a chainsaw to that budget, and trimmed off all of the waste in the Minnesota budget. He is truly one of the rising stars in our party," he said.

That was the head of the king-making "Club for Growth" during the Republican National Convention in 2004. The governor did nothing to indicate that he really didn't cut the budget but only cut the rate of spending increases.

Q: What happens to the people who'll be cut off from programs.
A: In some cases they'll be shifted to other programs, but not always. The governor says they'll be dropped but that's the way it is.

Q: Any hope the federal government will be able to control health care costs?
A: We've made some progress in Minnesota. The essence of it is you can't have people going to consume health care without knowing the cost, and then submitting the bill.

From the comments section, a small business owner writes:

Being able to write off a 6001 lb pickup or SUV in 1 year instead of 3-5 years is absolutely no help to a business owner who is laying off employees and has seen traffic and business drop 50% in the last 3 months. Tax cuts have been a proven failure since Reagan came up with this nonsense 30 years ago. The Republicans need to come up with a new mantra, this one is worn out and no one is buying it any more. this state has coasted on investments made in the 60's, 70's and 80's and now we are paying the price.

11:46 p.m. - The governor says the transportation taxes increase and the increase in the sales tax for outdoors program didn't involve him. He says critics shouldn't be clamoring for tax increases because the taxes have increased.

Q: Even food shelves are having difficulty taking care of people coming through the door, and people need social service programs more than ever. People can't get jobs or if they can get them, they don't pay enough. What about child care assistance programs?

A: There's a whole array of "really good programs," the governor said, "and the need always exceeds the resources." He says the obligation is first to balance the budget and then provide for people in need, and then provide for the future. "Our listeners have to come to understand the magnitude of the challenge we face. It would be nice to keep things the way it is, but we can't."

Aside: I was just looking to see if the governor's bodyguard is around. Didn't see him, but someone must be driving the big, black Suburban that's parked out back. In the Ventura days, the guy used to sit right outside the studio, as if a would-be assassin would bust in at any moment.

Q: It's disturbing to see non-profits laying off workers on top of cuts in health and human services. Where are the funds going to come from and how are people to be served?

A: To some degree, they won't and some people won't be served. "We have to prioritize. The world and the economy has changed and it's changed dramatically. You cannot expect the government to carry on as it was."

Aside: Politicians, and not just Pawlenty, are telling us, basically, that some people are going to have to suffer and suffer a lot. That said, how will we be expected to change? The kids stay in the home longer? Parents moving in with kids more often? We're really talking about a cultural change in America now and nobody wants to acknowledge it. There really is no hope on the way and that's the reality of the lack of confidence by Americans. The feeling is that America's best days are behind it, and you will have a lower standard of living. Isn't that today's message?

Q: When will you announce whether you'll see re-election?
A: In the coming months. (Well, yeah, that's rather obvious since the election is in "the coming months.")

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Green Acres

Posted at 12:13 PM on January 22, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Perhaps many Twin Cities-area residents shrug their shoulders when the topic of a tax policy for farmers comes up. For city slickers, farms are for the middle-of-nowhere and of little concern.

Wednesday's hearing at the Capitol on the Green Acres Law, should prove the exception. The law allows a lower property tax rate for farm property that is in production. It becomes an issue the closer you get to a city, however, because farmland is valuable property if it could sprout houses. Under current policy, if a farmer sells the land, he/she has to pay seven years of additional back taxes. But he/she also pays more money if the land is "unproductive."

When tax policy is used to force behavioral changes, it causes all sorts of unintended consequences. The Green Acres law was meant to "convince" farmers to keep the land in production, by making it financially impossible to sell it to developers.

The problem comes by the definition of what is "productive."

Take the case of Lake Elmo farmer Peter Kastler, as told by the Bemidji Pioneer:

Lake Elmo farmer Peter Kastler said his grandmother lives on the home place and wants it to remain farmland.

"It is a place I cherish deeply," he said.

The family even opted to keep open some land next to a housing development, so homeowners would not need to deal with cows, tractors and other farm operations. But forcing the family to pay the equivalent of seven years of higher home property taxes just for keeping land open is not fair, he added.

It's even worse in the Winona area, where hilly unusable farmland costs more money in taxes because it's "unproductive."

And the cost of adding environmental buffers to prevent contamination of streams through farmlands could eliminate such protections.

Earlier this month, MPR's Sea Stachura profiled a Belle Plaine woman who's trying to decide whether to tear out hardwood trees that act as a buffer between a stream and a hazelnut field.

This issue is one of the big non-deficit issues facing the Legislature this session. And while the argument is obviously being made that the removal of the tax breaks has unintended consequences, the debate also is set against the backdrop of the report from the legislative auditor last winter that led to last year's decision to limit the tax breaks. In it, the auditor said the Green Acres program, designed to keep farmland out of the hands of developers, didn't work.

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Inaugural Diary: Quote contest

Posted at 1:42 PM on January 20, 2009 by Bob Collins (23 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

You've been president of the United States for 8 years, you can't do a thing without a million photographers following you, everything you say is scrutinized for deeper meaning, and there are plenty of people who'd like to kill you.

And then you're not president anymore.

The door of the helicopter closes and it's just you and your spouse.

You turn to her and say........ " xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ."

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Inauguration: Poetry

Posted at 12:38 PM on January 20, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Ripples

The sun rises
This is nothing new
The top spinning marbled blue
Brings the light into view
As is has for eons and eons
The day begins

But today a new sensation
As the sun crosses the dateline
A ripple not quite a melody
Rings in the air
Curious, the sun seeks the source
Faint but growing as it crosses
The Mariana Trench
Carried by the winds off Mt. Fuji
The Himalayas
Stirring the dust on the silk road
Yet it is not here

Further the sun searches
Picking up rhythms joyous in Africa
Ripples swelling
Swelling more with the
From tears and laughter
Mogidishu, Odessa, Barcelona, Paris, London
Yet still, it is not here

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Inbloguration

Posted at 10:43 AM on January 20, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

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Looking back

Posted at 5:30 PM on January 19, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Julia Schrenkler and I will be blogging inaugural activities on Tuesday.

Before then, let's his the News Cut Wayback Machine.

First stop: 2001...

Then, 1993...

And.... 1989

All speeches noted some sort of renewal.

What do you want to hear in the speech on Tuesday? Better still, write the one you'd give.

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Inauguration diaries: James Meincke

Posted at 3:39 PM on January 16, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

James Meincke, 18, of Hudson, Wisconsin was all set to go to college at the University of Wisconsin last September until he met the Barack Obama campaign. This week, however, he moved into the dorms in Madison where the new semester starts next week, but he'll have to skip class. He's going to the inauguration.

Meincke, a 2008 graduate of Hudson High, started working as a volunteer in the Obama campaign in Eau Claire last summer, but just before he was to head back home when things were wrapping up, the campaign offered him a job as a field organizer in a Republican-leaning area of Wisconsin.

It's a grueling job of long hours and low pay. But it's nowhere near as hard as telling your mom and dad you're not going to college, at least not right away.

"My mom kind of thought, 'Oh this sounds like a great experience,' and my dad, he started naming off all the negative consequences: 'You're going to have to buy a car now,' 'You're not going to get the classes you want when you go back to school,' 'You're going to be behind everybody.' I made a list of all the pros and cons and I figured (missing) one semester isn't going to be too bad," he says.

The Obama campaign sent him to two counties north of Green Bay. "It's all about voter contact. We're the people talking to volunteers and training volunteers. Anyone who would volunteer would come through us," he says. "It's a lot less glamorous than the name field organizer suggests. We'd work about 100 hours a week and there were times I thought, 'Oh man, what did I get myself into?'"

He says he didn't know until he worked in the field how important volunteers can be. His two counties voted Obama by 8 points each.

Now comes Meincke's reward. A ticket to the inauguration next week.

"I was a little hesitant about going because I started college late and everyone had been there for awhile, and then we got information that we received tickets to the inauguration and the inaugural ball and now I think it'll be a fun time. But I was worried about missing two days of school," he said.

This time the roles have been reversed. James was hesitant to go; his parents not only wanted him to go, they wished they could go, too.

He's staying with a friend at Georgetown University who he met in Green Bay. He's going to the Youth Inaugural Ball on Tuesday after inauguration. Then there's a "staff ball" for all the Obama workers, where he hopes to meet the new president.

He'll send us pictures.

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The State of the State

Posted at 12:18 PM on January 15, 2009 by Bob Collins (10 Comments)
Filed under: Pawlenty, Politics

Here's the Wordle depiction of Gov. Pawlenty's State of the State speech today. Note the absence of the word: "strong." Note the absence of almost any adjectives to describe Minnesota's condition. And one of the very smallest words is: "hope."

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Franken v. Timothy Pawlenty and Mark Ritchie

Posted at 3:03 PM on January 13, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

3:04 p.m. I'm listening to a conference call with attorneys for Al Franken. They're filing a lawsuit against Gov. Pawlenty and Mark Ritchie, the secretary of state, seeking an election certificate.

3:06 p.m. Attorney Marc Elias is citing the law I highlighted yesterday. "All we are seeking is something all Minnesotans should insist on: full representation in the United States Senate."

3:07 p.m. Elias says the general provision of the law not specific to Senate elections says that a certificate of election should not be issued until the contest has been determined by a court. He says there's a "tension" there between the two paragraphs I cited yesterday... one speaks in mandatory terms, and one speaks in a more general way. He says the provision they (Franken) relies on is more specific.

He says the state of Minnesota, in the second provision, did something important, making clear it doesn't apply to state senator or state representative because the Minnesota constitution gives the final decision on who to seat to the legislative bodies.

Elias says that's also true at the federal levels. "We believe to harmonize the tension (between the two subdivisions of the law)... is to recognize that just as the state House and state Senate have final determination there and an election certificate cannot be held up pending a judicial contest, likewise the same is true for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

He cites the Supreme Court case I referenced in yesterday's post.

Q&A

Q: Why aren't you filing this in federal court?
A: We're not alleging a conflict between state and federal law. We think state law needs to be read against the backdrop of the U.S. Constitution and the Supreme Court of Minnesota has been sensitive to that. We're bringing a question of state law interpretation.

Q: Doesn't Franken look greedy here in the court of public opinion?
A: No. We asked the governor and secretary of state to do what the law compelled them to do.

Q: What are the odds this will succeed given the fact the Republicans threaten to filibuster this issue?
A: The chances of a filibuster disappear once an election certificate is issued.

==> Franken camp tries to end questions but the guy's volume is too low <==

Q: Why pursue this when you're ahead?
A: We're confident that we'll prevail in the process. We gained votes in the recount, during the recount reconciliation, and during the improper absentee ballot process. We feel very good. The question is ... your readers and your listeners face an uncertain economic world and should the people be deprived full representation in the Senate because Sen. Coleman wants his day in court.

(Bob notes: They're suggesting -- appropriately -- a responsibility to deal with economic issues in the Senate. Would this be a bad time to renew my request to the senator-elect to answer some questions about economic issues and a few foreign policy issues facing the Senate?

Franken camp shouts "last question." (There are, of course, many questions left to answer, but perhaps the Franken camp recognizes the more difficult questions still to be asked).

Q: All top lawyers seem to see the plain reading that you shouldn't get your certificate.
A: We'll let the Supreme Court make that decision.

Update 4:44 p.m. - Tom Scheck has audio up of the follow-up Coleman conference call.

Update 4:44 p.m. It's Lawsuitpalooza. Tom Scheck reports a group of Franken voters is suing Ritchie and several counties, because their absentee ballots weren't counted.

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The seat belt issue

Posted at 7:30 AM on January 13, 2009 by Bob Collins (52 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Allen Kelling won't be around to hear this year's legislative debate over whether you should be required to wear seat belts. The 19-year-old Braham, Minn., man was killed Friday night when his car was broadsided at the intersection of Hwys. 107 and 70, the Star Tribune reported in the section of the paper that contains several similar incidents day after day after day. All are sad stories of, in many cases, senseless deaths. Allen was not wearing a seat belt, according to the newspaper. A passenger in Kelling's car and the person driving the other car were not seriously hurt. They were wearing seat belts.

An annual bill that would give police the power to stop you for not wearing a seat belt is one of the first initiatives of some lawmakers. It would cost the driver $100 for not wearing a seat belt and the driver would get fined $75 more for each passenger not buckled in.

The debate will offer nothing new. Proponents will point to a declining death toll on the state's highways as evidence why it's needed. Opponents, backed by talk show hosts who have wrung out every last shred of material from the Franken-Coleman recount, will claim this is the line in the sand Minnesotans must draw between freedom and fascism. It's bad enough we're already required to use our turn signals.

Three years ago, Republicans killed the bill by sending it to a committee and not giving it a hearing. Two years ago, DFLers in the Senate ganged up on it. Last year it was the House's turn and even some of the more -- and now retired -- liberal lawmakers said no. Turning the issue on its head as only the Minnesota legislator can, some of the most conservative Republicans voted for it.

I won't bother wading into that end of the debate. I am interested in this aspect of the issue: Forgetting the issue of whether it is isn't or isn't the law to wear your seat belt, why don't you? Is it too hard? Uncomfortable?

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Has recount eroded Coleman's poll numbers?

Posted at 10:50 PM on January 12, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Eric Ostermeier at the U of M's Smart Politics says "not really."

However, Coleman's unfavorability numbers in the new SurveyUSA poll (44 percent) were also at their lowest point going back to April 2008 (42 percent, Rasmussen). In fact, Coleman's favorability numbers are actually up 2 points from the last time SurveyUSA asked the three-response option question, back in October 2007 (from 36 percent; though his unfavorability numbers rose by 7 points during that span).

Ostermeier says Al Franken's net favorability rating has suffered since Election Day.

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Guns sales jump with Obama presidency

Posted at 4:05 PM on January 12, 2009 by Bob Collins (12 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice, Politics

Because of Barack Obama's election, the sale of guns has shot upwards (pun not intended but since I've already made it....).

It's a narrative that's popped up many times since last November. In Albert Lea, the Twin Cities, and many major cities.

It was repeated this afternoon in a story in the Daily Republic of Mitchell, South Dakota:

The number of concealed pistol permits in the state has jumped almost 17 percent since 2006, and one gun shop owner said the election of President-elect Barack Obama has a lot to do with it.

"The day that Obama was elected, gun sales from distributors to gun shops shot up," said Robert Brown, owner of 2nd Amendment Guns in Mitchell. "The gun world is really scared."

Not that whipping people into a frenzy is necessarily bad for business, mind you.

"It scares me that I might be seeing a time when guns might be taken out of the people's hands," Brown said. "It's sad."

It also ignores the "win" the Supreme Court delivered last summer when it overturned a handgun law in the District of Columia. Still, it was a case in which Obama submitted a brief in support of the ban.

However, a 2nd Amendment expert says it's not an issue Obama is likely to touch. "My sense is that Obama does not want to interfere with an issue that will, for the time being, be left up to the states," says David T. Konig, Ph.D., professor of history and director of the Legal Studies Program, both in Arts & Sciences, and professor of law in St. Louis. "The issue will turn to controls, such as sales at gun shows or other limited restrictions on purchases."

There is the question, however, of whether the matter will be left up to the states. If so, there's nothing to indicate gun owners in Minnesota (and certainly South Dakota) have much to worry about. There hasn't been a significant legislative attempt yet to overturn the nearly-six-year-old concealed carry law in Minnesota, and there's little to indicate any lawmaker has the stomach for such a fight this session, either .

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Franken's gambit

Posted at 12:15 PM on January 12, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Stories come and stories go but no story comes and goes quicker than Al Franken's attempt to get a hall pass for the U.S. Senate. Unless, of course, this issue, too, ends up in court.

Franken this morning asked for a certificate of election, allowing him to take his place in the U.S. Senate.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who is one of two people who would sign the certificate (the governor is the other) said "no" in short order.

"Minnesota law is very clear on when a certificate of election can be issued. Neither the governor nor I may sign a certificate of election in the U.S. Senate race until all election contests have reached a final determination. Even if the governor issues a certificate of election prior to the conclusion of the contest phase, I will not sign it."

A few minutes later, Gov. Pawlenty also put the kibosh on the idea:

"I have a duty to follow state law and our statutes are clear on this issue. I am prohibited from issuing a certificate of election until the election contest in the courts has been resolved."

If a recount is undertaken by a canvassing board pursuant to section 204C.35, no certificate of election shall be prepared or delivered until after the recount is completed. In case of a contest, the court may invalidate and revoke the certificate as provided in chapter 209.

Recount completed? Check. Franken gets his certificate of election.

But check subdivision 2:

No certificate of election shall be issued until seven days after the canvassing board has declared the result of the election. In case of a contest, an election certificate shall not be issued until a court of proper jurisdiction has finally determined the contest. This subdivision shall not apply to candidates elected to the office of state senator or representative

Has the "court of proper jurisdiction" finally determined the contest? Nope.

Marc Elias disputes the notion that the election certificate can not yet be issued, according to MPR's Mark Zdechlik. "For today I think we're going to do what we've done in the past which is to trust that the governor will want do the right thing. To trust that he and the Secretary of State will sign the certificate and Al Franken will then be able to take that certificate to the United States Senate," Franken's attorney, Marc Elias, said.

How could he come to the conclusion that issuing a certificate is a right thing to do given the clear wording of the state statute? According to an analysis on MyDD.com last week, a Supreme Court ruling in the 1962 Minnesota Congressional recount focused on the second part of the state law cited above. The Court said:

After carefully examining these statutory provisions, we must come to the conclusion that § 204.32, subd. 2, has no application to a contest in the United States Senate or House of Representatives.... Since the House of Representatives is the final and exclusive judge of the legality of election or qualification of its members, this court should not gratuitously issue a prerogative writ which might be considered a tactical advantage for one or the other candidate.

See the avenue for yet another court case here?

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The tone

Posted at 9:52 AM on January 12, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

It was time for the last question at President Bush's last news conference this morning, the relative first in a series of "lasts" over the next week. I turned up the radio, anxious to hear what question would be the one to put the historical imprint on President Bush's term.

It was a question about Barack Obama.

You arrived here wanting to be a uniter, not a divider. Do you think Barack Obama can be a uniter, not a divider, or is -- with the challenges for any president and the unpopular decisions, is it impossible for any president to be a uniter, not a divider?

The president -- avert your eyes, hard-core Democrats -- hit it out of the park.

I hope the tone is different for him than it has been for me. I am disappointed by the tone in Washington, D.C. I've -- I try to do my part by not engaging in the name-calling and -- and by the way, needless name-calling. I have worked to be respectful of my opponents on different issues.

During his answer, I could only think about Garrison Keillor's political column this weekend when "The Old Scout" dropped a nuke on the incoming president, with whom he's had a man crush for more than a year.

So you shouldn't fret, dear hearts, if what you do doesn't draw a big crowd or get written up in the papers. Be proud. If you've dedicated yourself to the tango, or playing drop-thumb banjo, or digging up ancient cities, or writing sonnets, you are beautiful, and please do not yearn for the bright lights. Those wombats reading the news off teleprompters are talking to the bedridden, the delusional and the criminal. The happy StairMaster president is on his way to a mansionette in Dallas, to be the decider of where to put the sofa. His successor, Mister Mambo, has cast his lot with Harvard and Yale and old Clinton hands, and soon enough, Lord knows, they will get the first of many comeuppances, and their shining faces will be chopfallen.

Mr. Mambo?

Some of the letter writers to Salon.com were not amused

Right now, Barack Obama should be called Mr. TCB. Does Keillor know what TCB means? Maybe he should check out that old Motown classic "Taking Care of Business." (Bob notes: Wasn't that Bachman -- not that Bachmann -- Turning Overdrive? Wasn't T.C.B. the name of a show from Motown?) Keillor should also be informed that in Swahili, mambo means an item of business, a responsibility, a care, a concern, a worry, a problem. The plural form of mambo is jambo, and Jambo or Hujambo is a common greeting in Swahili. (P.S. I hope Keillor can recognize the linguistic efficiency of Swahili where one word does the work of a dozen English equivalents.) So perhaps Mr. Mambo isn't really a bad name for Obama, albeit it should be Mr. Jambo, or better Bwana Jambo, since even before his inauguration, Obama is faced with a whole series "jambo."

Yeah, well, whatever. The point is: If the administration isn't even in office yet, and a Garrison Keillor Democrat is already taking shots at him, then let the dividing begin!

Photos via Getty Images

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Are the mayors dreaming of being governor?

Posted at 5:53 PM on January 8, 2009 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Is something Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said today a hint, a Freudian slip, or an innocent comment?

Here's what he told All Things Considered host Tom Crann on Thursday after he met with the Barack Obama transition team in Washington. "I see myself representing Minnesota...." he said in beginning an answer to the question of what he considers job #1 for the Obama team. Listen

Rybak's name usually comes up when experts handicap the 2010 race for governor. So, of course, Crann had to ask.

"I'm here because I'm supposed to be representing my whole part of the country... I'll figure out what I'm doing next.... soon.... but that's not for today," he said. Listen

"Relatively soon I'll figure out whether I'll run for mayor again," he said.

Yesterday St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman announced his intention to run for re-election this year. He, too, refused to dampen speculation that he'd run for governor.

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Fixing the election system in Minnesota

Posted at 7:46 AM on January 8, 2009 by Bob Collins (11 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

In the wake of the Franken-Coleman mess, what changes would you recommend to Minnesota's election law?

Here's one:

"My feeling personally, and I think a lot of people share this opinion, that if it would greatly improve the quality of our election judges if the persons who are so interested in making sure things are going correctly in the precinct actually serve as an election judge, rather than challengers."

That's Minneapolis Elections Director Cindy Reichert, who told legislators yesterday that additional restrictions, on behavior of challengers, might be needed.

MPR's Tim Nelson reports that early voting and automatic registration might lighten the workload for election judges, and put more attention on the more time-consuming parts of the process, like absentee voting.

But in the spotlight of the recount, a significant problem -- at least anecdotally -- has gone unnoticed and unaddressed: people were improperly denied the opportunity to vote. On Election Day, we had quite a few stories from people who had voted before in a precinct, and went to vote on Election Day, only to find out they weren't registered. What happened to them? Why did they disappear?

MPR's Mike Mulcahy hosts Midday today and will tackle the topic at 11 a.m.

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Live-blogging Obama's news conference

Posted at 9:14 AM on January 7, 2009 by Bob Collins (13 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Barack Obama is holding another news conference . He's yet to hold one that involves more than a half-dozen questions. Maybe this will be the one. The main subject appears to be the admission that -- perhaps for an entire generation -- we're giving up on the idea of eliminating deficits.

Where is the "new economics" coming from? Check out the TVs under the word "Washington" in the background during a presentation by a CNBC economics expert this morning.

That's Elmo from Sesame Street, I believe.

9:41 a.m. Clinton time has returned to Washington. The president-elect is late again. The set is American-flag bedecked stage. It seems the worse the economy gets, the more flags get added to the stage.

9:43 a.m. - We're underway. In his opening statement, Obama says he's committed to change and an end to wasteful spending. He's been warning Congress not to load up a stimulus bill with pet projects. He says the deficit isn't just dollars, but of trust and accountability.

He introduces a chief performance officer. It's Nancy Killefer, a director at McKinsey & Company. She's another Clintonian. She was a former assistant secretary of the treasury in the Bill Clinton administration.

She promises to "create a government that works for its citizens." As with yesterday's Midday session with Minnesota lawmakers, she invokes the need for government to "work more efficiently and effectively." Also like yesterday, she has no specifics.

Q&A

Q: What will you do about Medicare and Social Security?
A: He repeats that "if we do nothing, we'll continue to see red ink as far as the eye can see." He says creating jobs will cost more money. "We are working on our budget plans and beginning consultations with members of Congress." You're not dreaming; he didn't come close to answering the question.

Q: Are you involved in cease fire talks in Gaza?
A: We can't have two administrations running foreign policy at the same time. I'm being briefed.

Q: How should we interpret your silence on the issue?
A: I can't control how people interpret my silence.

Q: Congress is talking a larger stimulus bill than you are? How do you reconcile that?
A: We're still in consultation with members of Congress about the final size of the package. We expect it will be on the high end of our estimates but won't be as high as some economists are recommending. It's important it not contain earmarks (pork).

Aside: KC Star editorial -- Stimulus bill will be loaded with earmarks.

Q: What's your view of Roland Burris not being seated?
A: That's a Senate matter.

That's it. A new record for least number of questions he's taken at a news conference.

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Putting a stamp on the first day

Posted at 6:49 PM on January 6, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

On the first day of the legislative session, state senators were given their postage budget. Each senator will now be given 5,500 postage stamps.

Assuming there's no special session -- quite an assumption, indeed -- each senator would have to send 57 letters a day between now and the time the session is constitutionally required to end.

A few years ago, the Legislature provided laptops to lawmakers to allow them to better keep in touch with constituents via e-mail.

One senator -- Steve Murphy -- said he needs snailmail to keep in touch with constituents.

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Klobuchar not publicly wading into Franken-Coleman fight

Posted at 5:59 PM on January 6, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Many DFLers have suggested former Sen. Norm Coleman should've conceded the Senate race, rather than pursue an election challenge in court in his fight against Al Franken.
The state's only sitting senator in Washington isn't one of them, however.

"My focus is not on the legalities. I've put forward a few ideas on how we could do this with someone being seated provisionally but that did not go over so well with the other side," Sen. Amy Klobuchar told All Things Considered host Tom Crann on Tuesday.

Not that she's above taking a little swipe at the former senator. "I would note that he has pursued these claims before and some of them have been rejected, and also the bipartisan canvassing board, which with excruciating detail went through all these ballots, the entire world could see the ballots on TV, and they basically found that Al Franken had more votes," she said.

She says "in the immediate week or two," not having a second Minnesota senator won't make a big difference. Beyond that, however, she said it will hurt the state, "as much as I love being called the junior and senior senator at the same time," Klobuchar said.

(h/t: Jeff Jones)

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Political dominos

Posted at 4:03 PM on January 6, 2009 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The podium at today's pep rally news conference for former Sen. Norm Coleman provided a diversion for people who like to play political dominos.

For example in this picture from MPR's Elizabeth Stawicki, you've got state Rep. Marty Seifert, who could run for governor if Tim Pawlenty doesn't run in 2010. Just behind Coleman, there's Brian Sullivan, who came within a whisker of beating Pawlenty in 2002, and could be a Senate candidate in 2012 against Sen. Amy Klobuchar, or a candidate for governor in 2010.

All of their political futures -- in terms of advancement -- depend somewhat on vacancies created by the guy standing at the podium and the guy who wasn't there -- Pawlenty.

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Franken's 2014 chances

Posted at 2:42 PM on January 6, 2009 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Now that we're about done with Al Franken's bid for the U.S. Senate in 2008, an area political blog is turning its attention to his 2014 re-election bid. Admit it now: You've thought about whether the recount would politically damage the winner, right?

Eric Ostermeier at Smart Politics concludes that it likely won't be an issue. He says only 2 of 10 senators who won close elections in Minnesota, went on to lose the next election. He calc ulates Franken's re-election chances at 67%, again based on history.

On the other hand, Ostermeier doesn't calculate the odds of Franken getting some significant opposition from his own party. And it's worth noting that three of the last four Minnesota senators coming off close races did not serve a second term. The list includes Mark Dayton, who was considered very vulnerable before he decided not to run for re-election.

Meanwhile, FiveThirtyEight.com's Nate Silver doesn't figure Franken's 2014 GOP competition to be Norm Coleman:

Let's be frank: Norm Coleman doesn't have much of a future in electoral politics. Defeated Presidential candidates sometimes have nine lives, but defeated Senatorial candidates rarely do, and in his career running for statewide office, Coleman has lost to a professional wrestler, beaten a dead guy, and then tied a comedian. He doesn't have much to lose by fighting this to its bitter conclusion. But it's hard to envision how he'll come up with enough ballots to overtake Franken.

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Coleman sighting

Posted at 10:38 AM on January 6, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

There's about to be a Norm Coleman sighting. He's scheduled a 3 p.m. "media availability" at the Capitol today. It's unclear whether he'll answer any questions. Yesterday, his opponent -- Al Franken -- refused to answer any questions when he made his first public appearance since the recount started.

MPR will carry the event live on its news and information service stations.

FYI, the Franken campaign has ignored the questions I've sent over numerous times.

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Opening Day

Posted at 11:00 AM on January 6, 2009 by Bob Collins (26 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Legislature opens its session today. MPR's Midday will broadcast live from the Capitol. Several dozen "players" will be stopping by to talk to Gary Eichten. I'll be live-blogging and counting the number of times promises of "bipartisanship" are uttered. As you probably know, the promises are almost always broken.

Update 10:42 a.m. - Just as an aside, I had a conversation with a friend today who is relatively high ranking in one state agency who said, "we're already planning for a special session."

Live-blogging

MPR political editor and long-time Capitol reporter Mike Mulcahy is joining Eichten at the broadcast table. I'll be highlighting the major points of each guest. Feel free to comment.
Pam Wheelock, former finance commissioner for Jesse Ventura is also on the panel.

11:08 a.m. - Wheelock expects the budget deficit to be worse than November's forecast. How much worse?

11:10 a.m. House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelleher. Listen
Gary asked her if a lot of people are going to be hurt by what happens at the Legislature this year, but Kelleher didn't bite. She talked about a "balanced" approach to the session. "We open to working with the governor but the governor who seems to be the one person who says not everything is on the table." We're off and running with the first shot of the day.

What can be done on health care besides "lopping them off the programs?" Gary asked.
"These costs are going up... because people are outliving their resources."

11:16 a.m. - Finance committee chairmen Rep. Lyndon Carlson and Sen. Dick Cohen. Listen

Gary asked if there's anything that is off the table in the budget cutting. Cohen said "no," without actually saying "no." Carlson said he wouldn't say there's "fat" in government but said the Legislature will set priorities. Specifics anyone? Not so far.

11:22 a.m. Rep. Mindy Greiling/Sen. David Hann Listen
Greiling says K-12 advocates shouldn't worry about cuts but says "treading water isn't good enough." Hann says "it's a challenge" to not cut K-12. "We're looking for ways to do things more efficiently." . Eichten asks for one example of doing something differently in K-12. Hann says restoring a larger measure of the ability to manage what we do to the local level. "We put a lot of mandates, we should give the local school boards more latitude."

Greiling says paying teachers less and giving school boards the power to do that isn't the answer. She suggests parks and rec departments "work closely" with the schools, which is a way of asking whether schools should be doing athletics to the current degree.

Are graduation standards going to be relaxed because seniors may not graduate? "It's not acceptable to have two-thirds of the seniors not graduate," says Greiling. Hann agrees.

11:34 - Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller Listen
He doesn't think there'll be a lot of new ideas during the session, just action on things that have been talked about before. He says there's no area of the budget where there's "a big chunk" of frivolous spending in areas that aren't crucial to the state. He says the working relationship with Gov. Pawlenty is good and he doesn't see a big battle over taxes.

He says the task should be broken up into smaller pieces so there isn't a big showdown at the end of the session.

11:41 a.m. Sen. Ellen Anderson and Rep. Jean Wagenius
(Environment)Listen
Wagenius says the most important thing is to make sure citizens know how the new sales tax money is spent on environmental issues. Anderson says the money will not be "stolen" to balance the budget.

"Tough to do that if Grandma is getting kicked out of the nursing home, isn't it?" Gary asked. Any cuts to the environment need to be equal to other cuts in other areas, Anderson said, which didn't really answer the question, did it?

Anderson says there should be a cabinet position for energy and environment rather than Pollution Control Agency.

11:47 a.m. Rep. Jennifer Loon and Sen. Ken Keelsh (rookies)
Loon has a perfect name for campaign signs in Minnesota. They both said they're happy to be there.Listen

11:48 a.m. Rep. Marty Seifert (House Minority Leader)Listen
The budget will dominate the session. It's an opportunity to "rightsize" government. What area can save a lot of money? "For us it's a challenge that most of the budget is healtha and human services, K-12, local government aid and which of those do you want to touch?" Well, yes, that was the question. What's the answer? "We're going to have to look at what other states are doing." In the past, Gov. Pawlenty has pointed to Iowa or Wisconsin in cutting health care. So I'll take that as Seifert's answer: health care.

Will there be cooperation or deeper divisions? "It depends on the approach we take," said Seifert. He hated the 2007 session but liked the approach in 2008 when Republicans were brought into the discussions.

11:53 a.m. Rep. Alice Hausman and Rep. Morrie Lanning (Bonding)Listen
There may be a bonding bill this year for capital projects. Hausman says a bonding bill depends on what sort of federal "stimulus" programs are released and whether they involve matching money from states. Lanning says Republicans will take a "cautious approach" to a bonding bill. Translation: Not bloody likely.

Vikings stadium:

"Off the table," says Hausman. "Out of the question," says Lanning.

Schedule the funeral. The stadium is dead.

12:07 p.m. Usually around this time we get a demonstration by the Welfare Rights Coalition, but so far it's pretty quiet at the Capitol.

12:09 p.m. Tom Hanson, the governor's budget boss

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He says the new budget will address "needs in K-12" but involve cuts. He says taxes won't be raised and when pressed whether local governments would have to raise taxes, he repeated Gov. Pawlenty's mantra that that's their decision.

Asked about the sales tax and restructuring it, he said "we'll have to see." He denied that was a "yes" but it clearly wasn't a "no."

12:14 p.m. Dan McElroy, commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development Listen

We've lost 36,000 jobs related to single-family home construction. Without that, employment would be up. Pogemiller recommended a "reappraisal" of the department, McElroy thinks it's a bad idea.

12:18 p.m. Sen. Tarryl Clark, Asst. Sen. Majority Leader Listen
Says the people of the state have to "come together." Aside: There's a woeful lack of specifics coming from these people today.

How does the state lay the groundwork for education without dramatically increasing the budget? Clark says early childhood education is the answer. She says raising test scores doesn't need new money, "it requires us to work closer with our teachers," she said. "It's a real challenge," to see how the governor will balance the budget without new taxes.

Good point by Mulcahy, the 2010 election for governor is going to affect the session. Remember the 2006 election. Candidates for governor who were in the House of Representatives and Senate were gumming up debate.

12:29 p.m. Sen. Linda Berglin and Rep. Jim Abeler (Health care)Listen
Berglin says it's not a good time to be cutting health care. "It's a time for the government to be there for them."

Abeler says there's going to "be changes." He says it's a time of opportunity to "clean house on some programs." He says it's going to be a very painful session for everybody.
Home-visiting programs were identified as a place to cut. "For some people it's a nuisance," he says.

Berglin says a program for developmentally disabled needs to be restructured.

Is there any reason for people to be optimistic that we'll be "ahead of the health care issue in this country?" Neither answered the question directly.

I think that's it for the guests.

Did anybody notice who was missing from the discussion?

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What now?

Posted at 3:51 PM on January 5, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

It appears the U.S. Senate will try to seat Al Franken as a member this week even though he likely won't have an election certificate from Minnesota, Congressional Quarterly is reporting.

Jim Manley, the spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said Monday that there "likely will be an attempt to seat [Franken] this week."

A senior Democratic aide confirmed that Senate Democrats hoped to swear Franken in Tuesday, along with the rest of the freshman senators.

Franken may provide more illumination at his 4 p.m. "statement."

Meanwhile, the Norm Coleman camp is giving every indication it intends to take the Minnesota Supreme Court up on its suggestion that he pursue an election challenge to get 650 absentee ballots included in the count.

Does this hurt Coleman's political future? On Midmorning today, Guy Charles, the professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School, seemed to suggest it does.
In the newsroom today we kicked around the possibility of Coleman running for Tim Pawlenty's job in 2010. What other statewide Republican has his kind of name recognition?

Update 4:49 p.m. - Outside his Minneapolis home this afternoon, Franken took no questions, but read this statement:

"It has been a remarkable couple of months. Our recount brought national attention to Minnesota, and what Americans saw is that we take our democracy seriously. Our recount process was long, it was fair, and it was thorough. We should all be proud of our state, and we should all be grateful for the incredible hard work and dedication of all of our elections officials, from the state canvassing board and the Secretary of State's office to the officials in the cities and counties and precincts of Minnesota."

"After 62 days, after the careful and painstaking hand inspection of nearly 3 million ballots, after hours and hours of hard work by elections officials and volunteers across the state, I am proud and humbled to stand before you as the next Senator from Minnesota.

"This victory is incredibly humbling - not just because it was so narrow, but because of the tremendous responsibility it gives me on behalf of the people of Minnesota.

"While the recount process played out, the challenges facing our state and our nation have only grown. With tensions in the Middle East reaching the boiling point, our economy facing its worst crisis since the 1930s, and Minnesota's middle class families being squeezed harder than ever, it's clear that we have a lot of important work to do.

"I want you all to know that I'm ready to go to Washington and get to work just as soon as possible. And I look forward to joining President-Elect Obama and Senator Klobuchar in getting our country moving in the right direction again.

"I know this is not an easy day for Norm Coleman and his family, and I know that because Franni and I and the kids have had plenty of time over the past two months to contemplate the possibility that this election would turn out differently. Norm has worked hard for this state and this country, and I hope to ask for his help to ensure that Minnesotans can continue to count on receiving excellent constituent services from their two Senators without interruption.

"I also know that this was a hard-fought victory, and that I didn't win the support of every Minnesotan. I'm going to have to earn it by being a Senator who fights for every Minnesotan, whether you voted for me or not. And I want every Minnesotan to hear me say: I work for you now. And I will work hard to earn your confidence.

"There may still be additional legal proceedings related to our recount. But I'm now in the business of serving the people of Minnesota. And the best way I can serve the people of Minnesota right now is to focus all my attention and all my energies on getting to work for them on the issues we'll be facing together.

"I would like to close by doing something I wish I'd gotten a chance to do properly on Election Night, and that is to thank some people. My amazing staff and supporters across the state who made this victory possible and stuck with us this whole way. All the volunteers who woke up the morning after Election Day and got right back to work to help our recount effort. Our state's dedicated elections officials, our tremendous congressional delegation, and our fantastic Senator, Amy Klobuchar, who continues to be a mentor and an inspiration. And, of course, my beautiful wife Franni and our amazing family.

"For our state, today marked the end of a long process that will forever be a part of Minnesota history. But today is also a beginning. The history of our country will be forever altered by what we do together to address the challenges we face together. So, with tremendous gratitude for the victory we have won, I'm ready to get to work.

"Thank you."

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Where's Al?

Posted at 11:51 AM on January 5, 2009 by Bob Collins (15 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Franken campaign has been working hard, sending out press releases every time a commenter says he's the apparent winner in the Senate race.

A few minutes ago, his campaign reacted to today's Supreme Court ruling that said, basically, if Norm Coleman wants 650 more absentee ballots counted in the race, he should file a challenge to the election in court.

"Today, the Supreme Court once again affirmed the validity of the rules under which this recount was conducted. Minnesotans have waited a long time for a winner to be declared in this race, and today, with the last attempt to halt the counting process now having failed, Al Franken will be declared the winner."

But the statement didn't come from Al Franken. It came from attorney Marc Elias, his lead attorney in the recount. (Here's a copy of the court order.)

Now that Franken is the presumptive winner of the recount, it's time to ask some important questions. Here's one: Where is Al Franken?

I've sent a couple of messages to the campaign officials today, but the only thing coming back are more press releases with more press clippings about the recount.

Here's what I'd like to know:

What's in a symbol?

Posted at 7:08 PM on January 4, 2009 by Bob Collins (24 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Congress is going to hit the ground running when the new term begins.They've given themselves another pay increase.

As Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Gobe points out:

Beginning this week, US representatives and senators will be paid $174,000 a year. That represents an increase of $4,700 and the 10th time since 1998 that congressional pay has been given a boost.

As has become routine, this salary hike is taking place automatically - there were no hearings, no vote, no debate.

And no mention of it during the congressional campaigns just a few months ago.

It's only symbolism, of course, but maybe that counts for something right around now. It might be fair to say when you're living the good life in Washington, you lose touch with the real world to the point where you don't understand what taking more taxpayer cash looks like.

It's not just Washington, it's even Washington County, where commissioner's thought it's a good time to raise their pay. Shortly before Christmas, the board added a 3.5-percent increase to the commissioners' salary. They'll draw on their $52,713 salary starting last week.

Technically, it's a part-time position, though commissioners say it's really full-time. Still, the issue of unpaid elected officials doesn't usually come up during campaigns.

But maybe the symbolism of a tighter salary belt isn't that important to people. You tell me.

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Recount Q&A

Posted at 10:18 AM on January 3, 2009 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Q: Who's winning?
A: Al Franken. He wiped out the Coleman lead on election night during the recount and sits with a 49-vote lead. About 1,000 rejected absentee ballots are to be counted today by the Canvassing Board (they're just opening ballots as I write this, however, while waiting for a court ruling). The state Supreme Court ordered some of the absentee ballots to be included in the recount. You can watch it on The Uptake Web site.

Q: Most of the absentee ballots are from DFL-leaning areas, so Franken has this election in the bag, right?
A: Not necessarily, but the process is expected to only add to Franken's slim lead. Nate Silver of the Web site FiveThirtyEight.com says the prevailing wisdom is that the absentee votes will favor Franken:

If it proceeds unimpeded, the counting of absentee ballots is likely to bolster Franken's lead, as proportionately more rejected absentees were identified in counties won by Franken. If we simply allocate out the absentees in each county based on the proportion of the November 4th vote (.pdf) received by each candidate, that would imply 414 ballots for Franken, 383 for Coleman, and 156 for "other", adding 31 votes to Franken's lead.

(Update 6:19 p.m. Saturday: The lead actually expanded to 225 votes, according to The Uptake.)

Q: Can I play along?
A: Sure, here's the spreadsheet of absentee ballots.

Q: What will happen after these absentee votes are counted?
A: At some point, On Monday, the state Canvassing Board will declare a winner certify the results. A winner won't be declared for a week, giving the loser time to challenge the results. The results certainly will be challenged.

Q: And whoever wins will be our new senator who'll take his seat on Tuesday?
A: No, the Coleman campaign filed a motion with the State Supreme Court to try to get 650 more absentee ballots included in the recount. Those are from primarily Coleman-leading territory.

The court may decide today (and, in fact, it might well have already decided. You can check the court's Web site for documents here) .

Q: What's the problem behind the problem?
A: The State Supreme Court. It now has to try to solve the problem that it helped create by an order a few weeks ago that many considered flawed. The court was asked to rule on whether absentee ballots that had been rejected (allegedly) improperly by the counties, should be included in the recount that the State Canvassing Board was conducting. The Supreme Court -- without two of its members voting because they are on the Canvassing Board -- punted. It ordered some of the absentee ballots to be counted, but left it up to the Coleman and Franken campaigns, and county officials, to figure out which ones. It was a nightmare scenario that's turned into a nightmare.

Q:Who wins in this scenario?
Justice Alan Page, who gets to say "I told you so." In his dissent, Page wrote:

The court's order may seek the peaceful way out by asking the campaigns to agree on improperly rejected ballots, but the order does not guarantee that the candidates and their political parties will agree on any rejected ballots

Page saw the mess coming. So did everyone else.

Q: Who else wins?
A: The Uptake, which has emerged as Minnesota's Town Square on this issue, and has made watching paint dry interesting.

Q: What's the end game?
A: Coleman is now the underdog in this process and he's on his way to losing the election. There are enough twists and turns in the two months since Election Day that a lawsuit questioning the legitimacy of a Franken victory is a given. His team is assembling grievances that would be part of a lawsuit. There's also the claim that some ballots in this process have been counted twice.

Q: But Franken will be the senator until a court case works its way through the system?
A: Probably not. On Friday, a Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he will mount a filibuster if Senate leaders try to seat Franken. It would take 60 votes to end a filibuster and the Democrats likely wouldn't have 60 votes. There's also a likely fight over Senate leaders' refusal to seat Roland Burris from Illinois. It's not the type of battle Democrats will want to have at the start of a new term, so they may not even try.

Q: Who is Minnesota's other senator besides Amy Klobuchar then?
A: There isn't one. The Constitution says the term of a senator ends at noon on the third day of January. That's today. Norm Coleman is no longer a U.S. senator.

Q: Isn't whoever is ultimately named senator mortally wounded politically?
A: Some people are already pointing out that the new senator will not have the support of the majority of voters, but with a strong third party in most races these days, most victors don't have the support of the majority of voters. Additionally, the Senate is a six-year term and voters have short memories, especially when there'll be plenty of votes taken over six years to define whoever gets the seat. Politically, in the Senate a vote is a vote and it doesn't matter how a senator got there.

Far more important in terms of Senate power is the issue of seniority. If it's Franken, he won't have any. If it's Coleman, he only has one term behind him.

Q: If this ends up in court, why doesn't one candidate just drop out?
A: Because there's more here than just the six year term of a senator. Whoever loses this race, has no future electability, especially if he's the one perceived to have dragged this process through the courts.

Q: Why doesn't Minnesota just have another election?
A: There are no provisions in state law for another election. It's possible the Legislature will use this mess to clean up some of its election laws.

Q: Who's in charge here?
A: That's one of the things that's been illuminated by this process. For years we've been told that the Secretary of State is the state's top election official, creating the impression that there is a single person at the top. That's not the case. Elections in Minnesota are controlled at the county level, so there are 87 different "people in charge" and 87 different ways of doing things.

Q: We're the new Florida now, aren't we?
A: Yes. What made Florida Florida in 2000 was that it became the butt of jokes. Minnesota has become the butt of jokes, the facts be damned. We can try to tell ourselves that we've had an open recount process and that nobody has uncovered evidence of wrongdoing, but people outside of Minnesota don't care. Perception is reality.

One unrelated piece of trivia: During the recount 1,672 votes were added to either Franken's or Coleman's original election night totals.

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Taxed by the mile

Posted at 3:37 PM on January 2, 2009 by Bob Collins (13 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

File this with my previous "Can a tax do two jobs at once" posts. The increases in state gasoline taxes around the country were partly driven -- many claimed -- to get people to move toward more fuel efficient vehicles. And, in many cases, the increases were meant to raise some revenue for states.

So what happened? In Oregon, people did move toward more fuel-efficient vehicles and revenue from the gas tax dropped.

What to do? Oregon is now considering changing the state's gas tax to a tax on miles driven, rather than on gasoline consumed.

The Associated Press reports that Congress, too, is thinking about adopting the plan Oregon is considering, which includes a GPS monitor in some cars.

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Suggestions for cutting unfunded mandates

Posted at 1:39 PM on December 29, 2008 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is considering relaxing some state mandates to help cities and counties weather the economic downturn, according to a story today by MPR's Tim Pugmire. In many cases, the state requires school districts, cities and counties to meet certain standards, but doesn't provide any money to make it so.

In the story, Pawlenty said he's waiting for some suggestions:

"We have repeatedly asked the counties and others if there are certain mandates that you think are cumbersome or inefficient or unfair or burdensome or dramatically underfunded, and you want to be relieved of those. Give us a list. We haven't received it yet, this year or last year or anytime we've asked for it. So, it's pretty clear to us they don't want to say which ones they want to eliminate. So we will give them the option," Pawlenty said.

An MPR reader/listener found that to be disingenuous of the governor and he pointed out that such a list has been available for several years. The Legislature encouraged school districts, cities, and counties to provide suggestions for cutting unfunded mandates, and they've been sitting on the state auditor's Web site.

Hundreds of proposals range from the state-mandate for detox services (which I wrote about earlier today) to a relaxation of indoor air quality rules.

The schools, county, and city officials can provide additional suggestions by e-mailing mandates@auditor.state.mn.us, though there is obviously no guarantee anyone is going to look at them.

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No time for reflection

Posted at 12:13 PM on December 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

It was quite a shock to someone who hadn't had his morning coffee today when I opened the New York Times and saw this staring back at me from the front page.

Expansion Of Clinics Shapes Bush Legacy

The story details an expansion of community health clinics...

With federal encouragement, the centers have made a major push this decade to expand dental and mental health services, open on-site pharmacies, extend hours to nights and weekends and accommodate recent immigrants -- legal and otherwise -- by employing bilingual staff. More than a third of patients are now Hispanic, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers.

... while being sure to note that the number of uninsured Americans has increased dramatically during the Bush administration. Still, it was an unusual admission for the Times to acknowledge an apparently successful initiative under his watch.

The Times front-page article ushers in the period of reflection -- the one-month before the end of a presidency when columnists try to put a bow on the last 8 years.

A Canadian Press article today notes that Bush is considered "a hero" by many in Africa...

In Africa, Bush is a full-fledged hero after quietly tripling aid to the continent during his presidency, spending billions on AIDS treatment and prevention programs and a major malaria abatement initiative.

His policies are estimated to have saved 10 million lives, and stand in stark contrast to those of his predecessor, Bill Clinton, who paid little attention to Africa during two terms in office.

But a poll this afternoon suggests Americans aren't quite ready to do much more than say "good riddance." Seventy-five percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey today said they're the end of the Bush presidency is at hand.

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Budget deficit online

Posted at 1:53 PM on December 23, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Minnesota House of Representatives has set up a Web page to accept ideas for how to close the $426 million shortfall in the current budget, and the nearly $5 billion hole in the pocket of the next one.

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Canvassing Board goes back to work

Posted at 9:00 AM on December 23, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The State Canvassing Board is scheduled to continue its review of ballots in the disputed U.S. Senate race in Minnesota on Tuesday morning. I have some morning appointments so Than Tibbetts of MPR is covering for me until I return.

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Marty is in

Posted at 1:52 PM on December 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

John Marty may make another run for governor if he can convince John Marty to run. A new Web site, johnmarty.org, says:

Our state and nation face challenges that will not be solved by business as usual - the worst economic times since the great depression, the foreclosure crisis, rising unemployment, and increasing economic and social disparities. These challenges require the kind of change that is only available from a leader of vision and courage.

That's why we are encouraging John Marty to run for Governor and are forming an exploratory campaign. Please join us!

We are encouraging Senator Marty to run for Governor because of his vision, his strength, his integrity and his courage.

The Web site coincides with a mass e-mailing of the announcement. The return address says it's from John Marty. The Web site is paid for by Minnesotans for Marty. The address of Minnesotans for Marty is Marty's Roseville home.

Marty ran for governor in 1994, garnering 33% of the vote, against incumbent Arne Carlson.

Other candidates in the race for the DFL nomination are Sen. Tom Bakk, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, and Rep. Paul Thissen.

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Minnesota State Canvassing Board - Day 4

Posted at 8:57 AM on December 19, 2008 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Here's the link to the live video feed from the House.

Update 2:41 p.m. - I had connectivity issues with the Cover It Live interface. So I've had two set up a second session. We'll consider this following one "Part II" and the lower one Part I. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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What Nate thinks

Posted at 6:21 PM on December 18, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

There are two important steps to following the state canvassing board proceedings this week: (1) Click on the video link at the Secretary of State site, watch the results (maybe read the blog here) and then (2) See what Nate Silver thinks at fivethrirtyeight.com

So what does Nate think?

Note that the success rates cited below (he had calculated a 10-11% success rate for Coleman challenges) do not account for the dozens and dozens Coleman challenges that have gone into the "blue folder" -- these are challenges not to the marks on the ballot but "process" challenges related to its propriety (such as whether the ballot's duplicate is missing). If we count the blue folder ballots as unsuccessful challenges, then Coleman's success rate is more like 7% -- however, it would be premature to do that since we simply don't know enough about them.

In other words: It's anybody's guess who's ahead, who's behind, or who's still interested, especially with today's Supreme Court decision, a copy of which for your bedtime reading can be found here.

The board will continue in the morning and there was some talk about going into the late night. If you're finding the live-blogging helpful -- or at least marginally interesting -- I'll be happy to do it on Friday. If not, that's OK, too. There are other things happening in the world I can find.

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Live-blogging the Canvassing Board - Day 3

Posted at 2:07 PM on December 18, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Update 5:57 p.m. - A link to the Supreme Court decision on the absentee ballots as well as the salient points of the justices can be found at the end of the live blog. Just click the arrow below and scroll to the bottom. (end of update)

We're back on the case. A couple of things:

>> If you want to turn off the auto scrolling, you'll see a little icon to the right of the speaker icon (once the blog starts at 9 a.m.). Just click that.

>> Live video is available from House Radio/TV.

More pithiness to follow.

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Live-blogging the Canvassing Board, Day 2

Posted at 8:57 AM on December 17, 2008 by Than Tibbetts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

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Live-blogging the Canvassing Board

Posted at 12:00 PM on December 16, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

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Cities wait for possible LGA cuts

Posted at 2:25 PM on December 15, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics

Not everyone is sweating the possible loss or reduction of local government aid in Minnesota. The League of Minnesota cities has released a city-by-city estimate of LGA payments due on December 26th. These cities don't accept the state aid:

Albertville
Andover
Arden Hills
Baxter
Blaine
Bloomington
Brooklyn Park
Burnsville
Champlin
Chanhassen
Cir