Capitol View: June 18, 2010 Archive

Bachmann raises money off of nasty posters

Posted at 9:21 AM on June 18, 2010 by Tom Scheck (6 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: U.S. House

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann's campaign for Congress is raising money off of a poster that surfaced in the Twin Cities that is, shall we say, highly critical of her.

Bachmann's husband, Marcus, sent out the e-mail criticizing the posters:

"I write to you today as an outraged husband. My wife Michele Bachmann is under attack in the most vulgar and disgusting terms.

Just this week, all around the Minneapolis-St Paul area, posters started popping up for a concert titled "F*** Michele Bachmann." This was a juvenile and immature act by those unwilling to have a dignified debate, but it doesn't stop there!

Previously, Playboy magazine published an explicit, sexually violent article about what the author would like to do to several high-profile conservative women, including Michele. The article was so repulsive and created such an outcry, even Playboy had to blush as they pulled the article...

...You and I both know they are resorting to these vulgar attacks because they know their time is up - the American people have their number and won't put up with the continued trampling of our freedoms at the expense of their liberal ideology."

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Franken goes after direction of the Supreme Court

Posted at 12:09 PM on June 18, 2010 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: U.S. House, U.S. Senate

DFL Sen. Al Franken used a speech to the liberal leaning American Constitution Society to criticize the direction of the U.S. Supreme Court. Franken, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the court is "pro-business". In particular, Franken was highly critical of the court's decision on the Citizen's United case. The ruling allowed corporations to spend freely on political ads and campaign literature to influence elections:

"Most Americans are familiar with cases in which the Court has had to balance individual rights against some compelling state interest.

It's easy to feel disconnected from these cases. Even though the government has awesome power - enough to take away your freedom, or even your life - the degree to which that power is deemed to supersede your individual rights doesn't really enter into the daily lives of most Americans.

But there's more than one kind of power.

If you have a credit card, if you watch TV, if you file insurance claims, if you work - in other words, if you participate in American daily life at all - then you interact with corporations that are more powerful than you are.

The degree to which those corporations' rights are protected over yours, well, that's extremely relevant to your life.

And in case after case after case, the Roberts Court has put not just a thumb, but a fist, on the scale in favor of those corporations.

A fist with brass knuckles. Which weigh a lot. Because they're brass.

It's important to recognize that, for some conservative legal activists, this is the whole point. Do they want to undercut abortion and immigration and Miranda rights? Sure. But those are just cherries on the sundae.

What conservative legal activists are really interested in is this question: What individual rights are so basic and so important that they should be protected above a corporation's right to profit? And their preferred answer is: None of them. Zero."

A spokeswoman for Franken said Franken used his speech to outline some of his thoughts as the hearings for President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.

You can watch the speech here or listen to it here.

Pawlenty to Oklahoma on Tuesday

Posted at 12:33 PM on June 18, 2010 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Pawlenty travel, Tim Pawlenty

Gov. Pawlenty is headed to Oklahoma City, OK on Tuesday to raise money for GOP gubernatorial hopeful Mary Fallin.

The Oklahoma trip will come one day after he speaks to the Heritage Foundation in Minneapolis.

Pawlenty was in California earlier this week to raise money for his federal PAC>

He's also scheduled to host a fundraiser for the Minnesota House GOP on June 24th, speak to the Tennessee Republican Party's Statesman's Dinner next Friday and to the South Carolina Republican Party on June 29th.

Clark to hit Bachmann on BP

Posted at 3:30 PM on June 18, 2010 by Tim Pugmire (1 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: U.S. House

Democrat Tarryl Clark's campaign for Congress announced today that it will start running a TV ad criticizing GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann for her comments on BP. The Clark campaign started fundraising to run the ad earlier today and announced this afternoon that the ad will start running Sunday night on WCCO-TV.

Bachmann told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that BP should be held responsible for the disaster.

"There are people right now whose lives are on the line because their businesses are tanking," she told the newspaper.

Bachmann also said her real concern is the $20 billion fund would be used for other purposes than the oil spill.

This is Clark's first ad in the campaign for Congress in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District. Bachmann hasn't run any TV ads but ran radio ads criticizing Clark's vote on a bill that increased taxes.

Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton issued as statement defending Bachmann from what he termed a "dishonest attack ad."

"Michele Bachmann has consistently stated that those responsible should and will pay for the cleanup of the Gulf," Sutton wrote.

UPDATE

Bachmann released her own statement:

"The claims made about my statements are false. In each of the interviews I have given, I have stated that BP is liable to fully compensate victims for the damage they have inflicted on the Gulf Coast with this tragic accident. It's important to make the victims whole, and the American taxpayer should not pay one dime for the mess created by this spill. My opponents are demonstrating with this first ad they are scraping the bottom of the barrel with distorting my views on this tragedy that's been foisted upon so many innocent Americans, marine life and wildlife in the Gulf Coast region. Making false claims and distortions about my statements is indicative of a negative campaign style, and Minnesotans deserve better."

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