Polinaut: July 24, 2009 Archive

Daily Digest

Posted at 6:40 AM on July 24, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (0 Comments)
Filed under: Daily Digest

Gov. Tim Pawlenty described President Obama's health care proposal as "quite a joke" during an interview on Fox News.

Pawlenty is scheduled to meet with Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle this afternoon in Hudson. A media advisory from Doyle's office says they will announce "further cooperative efforts to clean up and maintain the St. Croix River." Otherwise, details have been sketchy.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and county election officials.

DC

A teachers union leader from Minnesota will attend an education event with President Obama.

Congressman John Kline says he's uncomfortable with Obama's education spending proposal.

Congressman Tim Walz says he wants to hear more ideas for health care reform.

2010

The National Republican Congressional Committee has added Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to its list of most vulnerable incumbents.

Independent Bob Anderson might run again in the 6th district.

State Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, has filed paperwork to explore a run for governor.

State Rep. Paul Kohls, R-Victoria, has a forum scheduled Aug. 1 in Chanhassen.

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GOP candidates for governor will meet in Rochester

Posted at 7:00 AM on July 24, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (0 Comments)

Olmsted County Republicans have scheduled a forum with nine GOP candidates for governor.

The party fundraising event is set for Aug. 6, at the Ramada Inn in Rochester. The cost is $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

The GOP candidates invited to participate are Pat Anderson, Tom Emmer, Bill Haas State, David Hann, Mike Jungbauer, Paul Kohls, Philip Herwig, Marty Seifert and Steve Sviggum.

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Pawlenty's chief of staff leaves

Posted at 2:12 PM on July 24, 2009 by Mike Mulcahy (0 Comments)

The University if Minnesota confirmed today that Gov. Pawlenty's chief of staff Matt Kramer will be taking a job at the university.

Kramer will be director of the University of Minnesota's Academic and Corporate Relations Center.

The U says the Academic and Corporate Relations Center "builds connections between the global business community and the university's vast network of expertise, technology and talent. ACRC develops and implements a wide variety of strategies to engage, collaborate, partner and support companies worldwide."

Kramer is the former commissioner of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. He started there soon after the governor took office in 2003. He took over as chief of staff in December 2006.

He starts his new job on August 17. No word from the governor's office on who might replace him.

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Obama's remarks on Gates arrest flap

Posted at 3:19 PM on July 24, 2009 by Mike Mulcahy (0 Comments)

This is a transcript of what the president said today the the White House press corps courtesy of the Associated Press:

I wanted to address you guys directly, because over the last day and a half, obviously, there's been all sorts of controversy around the incident that happened in Cambridge with Professor Gates and the police department there.

I actually just had a conversation with Sgt. Jim Crowley, the officer involved. And I have to tell you that, as I said yesterday, my impression of him was that he was a outstanding police officer and a good man, and that was confirmed in the phone conversation.

And I told him that.

And I - because this has been ratcheting up and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up, I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think, I unfortunately, I think, gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge police department or Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could have calibrated those words differently. And I told this to Sgt. Crowley.

I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Prof. Gates out of his home to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Prof. Gates probably overreacted as well.

My sense is you've got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in the way that it should have been resolved and the way they would have liked it to be resolved.

The fact that it has garnered so much attention, I think, is a testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in America. And, you know, so to the extent that my choice of words didn't illuminate, but rather contributed to more media frenzy, I think that was unfortunate.

What I'd like to do then is make sure that everybody steps back for a moment, recognizes that these are two decent people, not extrapolate too much from the facts but, as I said at the press conference, be mindful of the fact that because of our history, because of the difficulties of the past, you know, African-Americans are sensitive to these issues.

And even when you've got a police officer who has a fine track record on racial sensitivity, interactions between police officers and the African-American community can sometimes be fraught with misunderstanding.

My hope is that as a consequence of this event, this ends up being what's called a teachable moment, where all of us, instead of pumping up the volume, spend a little more time listening to each other and try to focus on how we can generally improve relations between police officers and minority communities, and that instead of flinging accusations, we can all be a little more reflective in terms of what we can do to contribute to more unity.

Lord knows we need it right now. Because over the last two days, as we've discussed this issue, I don't know if you've noticed, but nobody's been paying much attention to health care.

I will not use this time to spend more words on health care, although I can't guarantee that that will be true next week.

But I just wanted to emphasize that - one last point I've guess I'd make. There are some who say that as president I shouldn't have stepped into this at all, because it's a local issue.

I have to tell you that that thing - that part of it, I disagree with.

The fact that this has become such a big issue I think is indicative of the fact that, you know, race is still a troubling aspect of our society. Whether I were black or white, I think that me commenting on this and hopefully contributing to constructive, as opposed to negative, understandings about the issue is part of my portfolio.

So at the end of the conversation, there was discussion about - my conversation with Sgt. Crowley, there was a discussion about he and I and Prof. Gates having a beer here in the White House. We don't know if that's scheduled yet, but we may put that together.

He also did say he wanted to find out if there was a way of getting the press off his lawn.

I, I informed him that I can't get the press off my lawn.

He pointed out that my lawn is bigger than his lawn.

But if anybody has any connections to the Boston press as well as national press, Sgt. Crowley would be happy for you to stop trampling his grass.

All right?

Thank you guys.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Unallotment lawsuit is filed

Posted at 5:32 PM on July 24, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (3 Comments)

A Minneapolis man filed a lawsuit today to try to block one part of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unilateral budget cuts.

Bob Carney, a Republican political activist, claims Pawlenty went too far when he eliminated a state tax refund for political contributions as part of a bigger unallotment plan. Carney says Minnesotans are still entitled to that money because the refund is part of state tax law.

"This is not in the context of the rest of the unallotment issue, because there you have disputes between the Legislature and the governor as to how extensive the unallotment power is," Carney said. "This is simply a question of an individual taxpayer's right to their money."

But Gov. Pawlenty told reporters at event in Hudson, Wisconsin, that he thinks Carney's lawsuit is without merit. The Republican governor says his staff explained to Carney several times that the political contribution program functions as a rebate, not a refund.

"You know his theory of the case is that it is a tax refund. It's not a tax refund, it's a rebate that goes out to people," Pawlenty said. "It clearly is not a tax refund, but I think he's been pretty insistent on wanting to pursue the lawsuit. I don't think it's going to go well for him."

Carney filed his lawsuit in Ramsey County. District Court.

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