Polinaut: July 31, 2007 Archive

The governor's drought plan

Posted at 9:28 AM on July 31, 2007 by Mike Mulcahy

After touring a farm this morning Gov. Pawlenty announced some steps he will take to try to help farmers get state and local aid. Here's part of what his office said:

Pawlenty announced that he will promptly request an agricultural disaster declaration for any county that meets the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s threshold of more than a 30 percent crop loss. Last week, the governor requested USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to begin a formal damage assessment of drought impacted counties as the first step toward a possible federal disaster declaration. The USDA State Emergency Board is meeting on Thursday, August 2 to make a recommendation to the governor following its review of damage reports.

The governor also said that he will urge Congress to allow farmers to claim losses from crop year 2007 as part of the recently passed agricultural disaster assistance package that currently allows for assistance for the 2005 or 2006 crop year.

The Daily Digest: 7-31-07

Posted at 10:14 AM on July 31, 2007 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: Daily Digest

The Digest is back from a long weekend vacation so I'll touch on some of the highlights today. I hope to have a broader, deeper digest again tomorrow.

Gov. Pawlenty tours drought damage in Central Minnesota.

He also talks SCHIP on the Newshour.

Congress

DFL Rep. Keith Ellison visits Iraq.

Lawmakers continue working on the Farm Bill.

The Ag Commissioner will be at FarmFest.

DFL Rep. Tim Walz and GOP Rep. John Kline differ on the Farm Bill.

Walz will visit Iraq in August.

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar visits Greenland.

DFL Rep. Betty McCollum introduces legislation to prevent child marriages.

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann doesn't like No Child Left Behind and supports legislation that would let states opt out of it.

DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar supports better safety standards at railway crossings.

2008

Stu Rothenberg says the GOP shouldn't underestimate Al Franken.

First District GOP candidates attend candidate school.

2008 RNC
St. Paul is one step closer to getting funding for the convention.

Comment on this post

Poll has DFL candidates picking up ground on Coleman

Posted at 11:11 AM on July 31, 2007 by Tom Scheck (4 Comments)

Survey USA has a poll that says GOP Senator Norm Coleman's lead over two of his potential opponents is shrinking. KSTP-TV (which sponsored the poll) has a story here.

In a head a head with Al Franken, 49% of those polled say they would vote for Coleman if the election were held today. 43% support Franken. 9% are undecided.

In a head to head with Mike Ciresi, Coleman gets 48% to Mike Ciresi's 42%. 11% are undecided.

In a head to head with Jim Cohen, Coleman gets 49% to Jim Cohen's 37%. 14% are undecided. Jim Cohen was not in the race in February.

The poll shows that Coleman still has a lead over both Ciresi and Franken but the margin is shrinking (Jim Cohen was not in the race in February).

Coleman was getting the support from 57% of those polled in a February Survey USA poll between Coleman and Franken.

He also had a wide lead in the same poll over Ciresi.

Remember, polls are just snapshots in time so things can swing dramatically over the next 16 months. But the poll has to concern Coleman's camp and the GOP since no one wants approval ratings below 50%. It may also be one reason why the National Republican Senatorial Campaign has launched this website criticizing Al Franken.

Comment on this post