The Daily Digest

Posted at 6:31 AM on October 8, 2010 by Tom Scheck (8 Comments)
Filed under: Daily Digest

The candidates for governor will be outside of the Twin Cities metro area for all or part of the day. Democrat Mark Dayton and Independence Party candidate Tom Horner will be in Duluth to attend a MN Council of Nonprofits Conference Candidate Meeting. Republican Tom Emmer will hold campaign rallies in Lino Lakes, North Branch, Hinckley and Duluth.

All three candidates will appear at a live TV debate on Fox9 on Saturday night at 6pm.

KSTP reports on a memo leaked by the Emmer campaign that shows a path to victory. It was sent to key supporters. Here's the memo.

The DFL Party will start running an ad today in support of Dayton. It will focus on Dayton's education plan.

Dayton's kids are featured in a new ad that could hit the airwaves soon.

Dayton said on MPR's Midday that he may continue the K12 school payment delay in order to balance the budget.

You can listen to his Midday appearance here.

The NFIB officially backed Emmer's bid for governor.

Republican Party Chair Tony Sutton's remarks on Wednesday about Republicans backing Horner prompted an bangry rebuke from George Pillsbury and Bill Belanger.

MPR takes a look at Horner's sales tax plan and what it's impact would be on the state's residents.

Update: Liberal blogger Karl Bremer says Emmer has been hit with a malpractice lawsuit.

Race for Congress

AP talks to long-time Democrats who are frustrated with DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar. The news outlet says it could be a real race.

DFL Sen. Al Franken campaigned for Chris Coons in Delaware.

AP does an ad watch on Republican Randy Demmer's first ad.

Republican Lee Byberg criticized DFL Rep. Collin Peterson for voting to adjourn.

GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen hits Democrat Jim Meffert in his second ad.

2010 Other

Minnesota Majority and two other conservative groups are creating voter surveillance teams with the hopes of preventing voter fraud on Election Day. Critics say it has more to do with voter suppression.

An Administrative Law Judge dismissed Republican Pat Anderson's complaitnt against Rebecca Otto, the DFL incumbent.

Under the Dome

The Minnesota Council of Health Plans, the Minnesota Hospital Association and the Minnesota Medical Association circumvented Gov. Pawlenty on submitting comments on health insurance exchanges. The group gathered the data under the Data Practices Act and sent it to the federal government themselves.

As the state buys land, counties continue to lose tax revenue.

DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher outlined the flood relief process ahead of Monday's tentative special session. She made the comments in Owatonna.

The U of M prepares to ask the Legislature for a funding increase.

Congress

A Senate report says mismanaged U.S. funds are going to the Taliban and warlords in Afghanistan.

An inquiry also found that guards hired to protect U.S. bases are tied to the Taliban.

Democratic leaders are calling for an investigation of mortgage companies that may have unfairly evicted people from their homes.

Thousands of stimulus checks were sent in error.

A group is calling for DFL Rep. Keith Ellison's removal from the Congressional Task Force on Anti-Semitism.

Pawlenty for Prez Watch

Gov. Pawlenty is headed to Iowa today.

Pawlenty announced on Thursday that his last official radio show will be on 11/12. That's a week and a half after his successor is elected.

Pawlenty will also campaign for one of the Republican gubernatorial hopefuls. He's asking supporters to pick one. Emmer is included.

Mitt Romney will hold a fundraiser for Emmer and the MNGOP later this month.

Ron Paul is headed to Iowa.

Comments (8)

Whoa! Paulsen attacking Jim Meffert? Again? Erik Paulsen's the incumbent, with a bazillion dollars in the bank. He's the Tea Party Republican in a Tea Party Year. He spent half a bazillion dollars of Taxpayer Money last year carpet bombing the 3rd District with his Campaign Ads (did I mention it was Taxpayer Money?). So what's Erik Paulsen so skeered of? Must be some nasty internal poll numbers over at Bachmann's Favorite Lapdog HQ. Arf!

Posted by Ralph Crammedin | October 8, 2010 8:27 AM

What do you mean that he spent taxpayers' money on campaign ads?

Posted by Jamie | October 8, 2010 10:07 AM

Erik Paulsen was Congress' 3rd Biggest Spender* in 2009, on Taxpayer Funded Campaign Literature, thinly disguised as "constituent correspondence." Paulsen's slickly produced, full color ads, loaded with partisan, campaign-themed rhetoric, contrasted sharply with the 3rd District tradition of no-nonsense, informational, black and white questionnaires routinely sent to constituents by Paulsen's 3rd District predecessor in the House, Jim Ramstad.

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/89290282.html

Posted by Ralph Crammedin | October 8, 2010 10:26 AM

Ralph:

I’m guessing you know that you are being very deceptive with your post, here are the facts. Congressman are not allowed to send out campaign literature at tax payer expense. Every Constituent mailing that Erik Paulsen sent out is vetted by a committee controlled by the Democrats. The committee makes sure it is accurate and is NOT campaign literature.

While it is true that he was the 3rd biggest spender on constituent communications, that also includes many of the tela-town hall meetings he did via telephone with his constituents.

It is also have to realize that each congressmen is allocated a certain budget, and it is up to them how they spend it. So while he was 3rd in Constituent communications, it means he was lower in other categories. Some Congressmen even waste money on stuff like a new car lease. I’m glad Congressman Paulsen has his priorities in order, and by spending a good portion of his funds at keeping me informed, instead of wasting it on things like a new car.

I am also very appreciative of the ad Congressman Paulsen just put out (paid for with campaign donations). Most people don’t know who Jim Meffert is. It is important for the voters to know that Jim Meffert is a special interest lobbyist with multiple campaign finance violations. People need to understand that Jim Meffert is running to represent his special interest cronies, and that he will not be representing us.

Posted by anonymous Guy | October 8, 2010 12:13 PM

@anonymousGuy, I'm guessing you're posting Paulsen's talking points with good reason - maybe you're a Paulsen Campaign Staffer. Who knows? But never mind your involvement with Erik's campaign, let's deal with the substance of your deceptive accusations.

1. The committee makes sure it is accurate and is NOT campaign literature.
- Get a grip, DeceptionGuy, anything and everything goes through on franking privileges. If you are Paulsen paid staff, you already know this. It's a matter of the candidate's honor that s/he will or won't use the privilege for campaign stuff. Jim Ramstad used his privilege with honor; Erik Paulsen? Maybe not so strong in the honor department.

2. People need to understand that Jim Meffert is running to represent his special interest cronies…
- This is the biggest laugher of Paulsen's whole attack campaign against Jim Meffert. Have you looked over a list of Erik's Special Interest Contributors lately? Here's a very short segment of Erik Paulsen's Corporate Cronies list, just the Big Pharma, Big Insurance and Big Medical Corporate Special Interests and PACs who paid Erik good money to help him figure out how to vote on the Health Care Reform Bill. Pick any issue and you'll finds hundreds of similar Big Corporate Special Interests providing Erik with that Ready Cash he dearly loves.

AFLAC PAC
Allianz/Fireman's Fund PAC
Amer Society Opthalmology Inc PAC
Am Assoc of Orthodontists PAC
American Chiropractic Assn PAC
Am Council of Life Insurers PAC
American Dental Association PAC
Am Family Mutual Insurance PAC
Am Health Care Association PAC
Amer Hospital Association PAC
American Medical Association PAC
Am Osteopathic Info Assoc PAC
Am Physical Therapy Assoc PAC
Am Society Anesthesiologists PAC
Am Soc Intervention Pain Phys PAC
Am Health Insurance Plans PAC
Boston Scientific Corpoation PAC
College of America Pathologists PAC
Council of Insurance Agents &
Brokers PAC
CVS/Caremark Rx Inc PAC
Dow Chemical Company PAC
Ecolab Inc PAC
Emergent Biosolutions Inc PAC
Express Scripts Inc PAC
Farmers Group Inc PAC
Humana Inc PAC
Independent Insurance Agents
& Brokers of America PAC
Johnson & Johnson PAC
Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins PAC
McKesson Corporation PAC
Medtronic Inc Med Tech Fund
Merck PAC
Minnesota Life Insurance Co PAC
Nat'l Assoc Health Underwriters PAC
Nat'l Assoc Insurance &
Financial Advisors PAC
Nat'l Assoc Mutual Insurance Co PAC
Am Congress of OB-GYN PAC
Pfizer Inc PAC
PAC of Am Assoc Orthopedic Surg'ns
Proctor & Gamble Co PAC
Property Casualty Insurers PAC
R J Reynolds PAC
Smithkline Beecham Corp PAC
Travelers Companies PAC
Unitedhealth group Inc PAC
US Oncology Inc PAC

Posted by Ralph Crammedin | October 8, 2010 1:01 PM

Ralph, thank you.

Have you thought about making a formal complaint to the Federal Elections Commission?

Posted by Jamie | October 8, 2010 2:42 PM

@Jamie, Jim Meffert has already made a formal complaint* about Erik Paulsen's Fabulously False Advertising. I have no connection to the Meffert campaign and my guess is that, as a private citizen, I would likely get in the way by trying to add to that stew. It just burns me up that Mr Sanctimonious Erik Paulsen is such a Scofflaw. Sorry about the rant.

*http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=873200

Posted by Ralph Crammedin | October 8, 2010 3:12 PM

Ralph:

You are wrong on many levels. First you missed your guess, I am not a Paulsen Staffer either Campaign or Congressional. What I am is an informed citizen who will not fall for your lies.

Next you are lying about the Franking commission. They review every mailing over 500 pieces to make sure that it is not campaign literature.

http://cha.house.gov/franking_about.aspx

This proves your statements about Congressman Paulsen sending out campaign literature at government expense was just a lie.

On your second point, obviously Congressman Paulsen must have really upset the special interests or else they would not have recruited one of their own to run against him.

The fact of the matter is that Jim Meffert is a special interest lobbyist, an ethically challenged lobbyist at that. I did a search on the MN campaign finance board website and it shows that he has multiple campaign finance violations. The violations were so bad that on two separate occasions the campaign finance board voted to refer Mr. Meffert to the Attorney General’s office. Meffert is as sleazy as they come. I’m guessing that is why you are so upset, you are a die hard DFLer, and you just realized that your party nominated an ethically challenged lobbyist that will likely hurt other DFL candidates.

Posted by Anonymous Guy | October 9, 2010 12:41 AM

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