Capitol View: May 2, 2008 Archive

Peas in a pod?

Posted at 12:49 PM on May 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck (3 Comments)

Governor Pawlenty cited some statistics this week from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council that said Minnesota was 49th in tax rankings for small business.

Here's what you need to know about the group.

Some digging found that the group is headed by several GOP political heavy weights. Grover Norquist, with Americans for Tax Reform, is a director of the group.

Richard Rahn, with the Cato Institute, is also a director. He also has an interesting resume. He's the former economic adviser to former President George Bush, was the Chief Economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and also writes for the Center for Global Economic Growth which is funded by Freedom Works, a group created by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

The head of S,B and E is Karen Kerrigan who sat on the board of the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation and worked for the Small Business Survival Committee. She also gave plenty of money to conservative candidates like Tom Delay.

The group's secretary is Sydney Hay, who is running for Congress in Arizona. Hay is a former lobbyist who loves charter schools. She was also a campaign consultant who worked for several conservative causes.

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Sunday shows feature Obama and Clinton

Posted at 1:56 PM on May 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Barack Obama is on Meet the Press. Hillary Clinton is on This Week. Do you think there will be fireworks?

Here's the Sunday ineup.

McCain heading his own VP search

Posted at 2:10 PM on May 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck

The Swamp quotes John McCain advisor Charlie Black as saying McCain is heading his own search for VP:

Black said no timetables have been set and staff is uninvolved. "He is thinking about names," Black said. "He's not talking to any of us about that."

McCain has referred to this as being in the "embryonic stage."

"He'll talk to a great variety of people as he does on all issues and matters of importance," Black said.

Yet Black acknowledged that the choice of a running mate is fraught with meaning for a 71-year-old candidate looking to reassure voters that they will be in good hands if anything should happen to him.

"Every nominee wants to make the best possible selection," he said, adding that they all "want to make sure they were picking somebody who could succeed and handle the job."

Scrabble or crossword puzzle?

Posted at 2:15 PM on May 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

Gov. Pawlenty and legislative leaders will meet this weekend to negotiate their budget differences. That means plenty of political reporters will be standing/sitting/laying outside of the Governor's Office waiting to see if a deal will be hammered out. We will also have plenty of really good questions like:

Should we play Scrabble or bring a crossword puzzle?

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Nelson-Pallmeyer on Almanac

Posted at 2:20 PM on May 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck

I'm told that Democrat Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer will be on TPT's Almanac tonight. Nelson-Pallmeyer is vying for the DFL endorsement for the U.S. Senate with Al Franken. Republican Senator Norm Coleman is running for reelection. Coleman is also getting some fundraising help from former NYC Mayor (and former presidential candidate) Rudy Giuliani.

Barkley thinking about Senate run

Posted at 5:23 PM on May 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

Dean Barkley tells MPR that he's thinking about running for his old seat (Barkley served in between Wellstone and Coleman, remember?).

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