Capitol View: September 18, 2009 Archive

ACORN is still an issue for Bachmann

Posted at 10:37 AM on September 18, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (1 Comments)

Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is raising new concerns about federal tax dollars going to the community organizing group ACORN.

Yesterday, Bachmann was praising a House vote to strip ACORN of federal funding that came days after a similar Senate vote. She sent out a news release calling it "a tremendous victory for the taxpayer." But today Bachmann appeared before a Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC, and said she was concerned the two bills won't be reconciled.

"A housing bill in the Senate, an education bill in the House. How are these two bills going to come together to actually defund ACORN?, Bachmann asked. "As we stand here today, ACORN has yet to be defunded of one dime."

Bachmann says she wants President Obama to take executive action to defund ACORN. GOP-led criticism of ACORN came to a head with the recent release of a hidden-camera video that apparently shows ACORN employees advising a couple that was posing as a prostitute and her pimp.

Meanwhile, Kristen Wiig played Bachmann in a Saturday Night Live Thursday sketch.

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Is this a brouhaha, a hullabaloo, a hubbub, a katzenjammer or a tussle?

Posted at 10:53 AM on September 18, 2009 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

Officials with the DNC and Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty are urging their respective supporters to crash their opponent's phone lines.

The tussle started when the DNC sent out a news release calling on folks to call Pawlenty out on health care reform. Specifically, the news release said:

In the first "Call 'Em Out" email, the DNC is asking supporters to call Governor Tim Pawlenty to express their concern about his embrace of the salacious and thoroughly debunked charge of death panels as it relates to health insurance reform. In addition to asking people to call the Governor's office in St. Paul, the first effort of this campaign also asks that individuals share a web video detailing the Governor's extreme positions and spread the word about his embrace of far right wing rhetoric on health care reform across social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Pawlenty isn't backing down and is calling on his supporters to contact the DNC. Here's what Pawlenty wrote on his twitter feed:

DNC wants to jam up our phones in MN. If you oppose major tax hikes, call DNC: 202-863-8000 to STOP gov't-run health care. Pls RT (retweet)

The dispute comes on the same day that Gov. Pawlenty is scheduled to speak to the Values Voter Summit in Washington D.C. He's also scheduled to speak to the Ohio Republican Party on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the South Dakota Republian Party just announced that Pawlenty will speak in Rapid City next month.

Update: The DNC has a twitter button directing the message "Hey @timpawlenty, quit lying about health reform" to Pawlenty's twitter account. It's being bombarded right now.

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Ramstad continues hokey pokey on gov run

Posted at 11:58 AM on September 18, 2009 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

Former Republican Congressman Jim Ramstad said a few months ago that he wasn't going to run for governor (after expressing some interest).

But on MPR's Midday today, Ramstad said "Maybe the door is open just a crack" on a possible run for governor in 2010. Ramstad said he hasn't seen any moderates emerge in the race and added that he would have a hard time getting the GOP endorsement and said "primaries aren't all that bad." He also said he thought about running for governor as independent.

however, he later said that chances are 99% that he won't run for governor.

You can listen to the audio here:

Despite some criticism that Ramstad is "Brett Favre" or "Roger Clemens" for not making a decision, he worries officials in both parties mostly because he is a moderate.

You can listen to the entire Midday broadcast here.

Question of the day: Should Ramstad run and does he have a chance?

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Where in the world is Tim Pawlenty?

Posted at 2:36 PM on September 18, 2009 by Tom Scheck (5 Comments)

Gov. Pawlenty is scheduled to hit the road again this weekend. He'll be speaking to the Values Voter Summit in Washington D.C. tonight and will speak in Ohio tomorrow. If you're interested in seeing his speech to the Values Voter Summit, I'm told it will be webcast here.

The South Dakota Republican Party also announced today that Pawlenty will speak at an event in Rapid City in October.

MPR News has been keeping track of Pawlenty's out of state schedule since he announced on June 2nd that he wouldn't seek a third term. You can check where he's been and where he's scheduled to speak on the map below.

We'll continue to add events as we become aware of them. Please let us know if we've missed engagements or if you have a line on future events.

Thanks to MPR's Curtis Gilbert and Steve Mullis for putting the map together.

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For your viewing pleasure...

Posted at 3:10 PM on September 18, 2009 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

Here's who will be on this weekend's public policy shows.

TPT's Almanac:
Todd Jones talks about his return for a second stint as U. S. Attorney in Minnesota, Former Medtronic CEO Bill George talks about leading in crisis, Mary Lahammer's look at Minnesota's deadliest tornados continues and a group of experts from the Minnesota Department of Health, Hennepin County Medical Center and the Minneapolis Public Schools join us to talk about the H1N1 flu virus.

KSTP's At Issue:
Former DFL House Minority Leader Matt Entenza will talk about his run for governor. David Strom, Ember Reichgott Junge and Sarah Janacek will talk politics.

WCCO's Sunday Morning:
They haven't gotten back to me.

ABC's This Week
President Barack Obama.

CBS' Face the Nation
Bob Schieffer will interview President Barack Obama on his health care plans.

CNN's State of the Union
Interview with President Obama; health care, Afghanistan, the economy, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; health care, homeland security, the economy, with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

Fox News SundayTopics: ACORN, the economy with Bertha Lewis, CEO, ACORN; Rep. Darrell Issa, Ranking Member, Oversight and Government Reform Committee; Fred Smith, CEO FedEx; Mark Zandi, Moody's.

NBC's Meet the Press
Interview with President Obama; economy, Afghanistan, with House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

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Minnesota ends tax reciprocity with Wisconsin

Posted at 4:39 PM on September 18, 2009 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

The decision, which starts on 1/1/2010, means that people who live in one state but work in the other will have to file tax returns in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. The change affects thirteen thousand Minnesotans and nearly 3 times as many Wisconsin residents.

Governor Pawlenty wanted Wisconsin to speed up payments to Minnesota and was banking on the savings as part of his plan to balance the budget on his own. The Minnesota Department of Revenue said in a news release that an agreement could not be reached and so officials decided to end the forty-one year agreement.

Revenue officials say the decision means Minnesota will generate $131 million more in the 2010-2011 budget cycle since more Wisconsin residents work in Minnesota.

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Pawlenty returns the call out

Posted at 7:37 PM on September 18, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (1 Comments)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is ramping up his criticism of President Barack Obama on issues ranging from abortion to defense spending.

Pawlenty took several shots at the president tonight in front of an approving audience at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC. The Republican governor also acknowledged being called out by the president via the Democratic National Committee for his recent comments about death panels in the health care reform proposal. Pawlenty said he had a return message for the president.

"Stop spending the country into bankruptcy," Pawlenty said. "Stop taxing us into oblivion. And the next time you address a group of young people, maybe you should apologize for the crushing debt you're putting on their shoulders."

Pawlenty also compared Obama's decision to stop a missile defense project in Eastern Europe to appeasement. He accused the administration of pulling the rug out from under Poland and the Czech Republic. Pawlenty is scheduled to make another political speech Saturday night in Ohio.

You can listen to Pawlenty's speech here:

Listen

Meanwhile, an official with the DNC issued this statement to Politico about Pawlenty's speech:

DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan was quick to respond to Pawlenty's appearance, saying in a statement: "It looks like Tim Pawlenty isn't even going to offer the pretense of being anything but an extreme right wing radical anymore. At least it's honest, and if you've seen what he's said on health care lately you know that's a rare feat."

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