Capitol View: July 24, 2011 Archive

The Daily Digest

Posted at 5:38 PM on July 24, 2011 by Catharine Richert (1 Comments)
Filed under: Daily Digest

Greetings! Catharine Richert, here.

Our friend Tom Scheck, who typically pens the Daily Digest, has been working hard. The guy needs a break, so I'll be taking over early morning digest duties for the next couple of weeks. For those of you who don't know me, I write the PoliGraph column for MPR.

Around Minnesota

If lawmakers in Washington fail to raise the debt ceiling, Minnesota could lose millions overnight.

A few weeks ago, Fitch Ratings knocked Minnesota's AAA credit rating down half a point. It's not the first time. MPR looks back on the state's credit rating history.

Governor Mark Dayton plans a visit to Japan and South Korea.

It looks like state road contractors will be saddled with construction costs related to the government shutdown.

PoliGraph says that Sen. David Hann's claim about the latest school payment delay is correct - but that it also deserves some context.

The Pioneer Press takes a closer look at the new budget.

Congress

On Friday, talks over the debt ceiling fell apart. Leaders met again on Saturday and Sunday, but still no deal.

Now, House and Senate leaders are preparing their own debt ceiling plans.

Intra-party disagreements are blocking a debt ceiling agreement.

State Sen. Dave Thompson of Lakeville won't run against incumbent DFL Senator Amy Klobuchar after all.

The Star Tribune profiles 8th district Rep. Chip Cravaack.

The Race for President

In an interview with CNN's State of the Union, Gov. Tim Pawlenty criticized President Barack Obama for not being aggressive on spending cuts. "Is he chicken?" Pawlenty asked. Here's a write up of the interview, and a video.

Citizens United, the same group involved in the landmark Supreme Court case that allows corporations and interest groups to spend an unlimited amount of money on political ads, will spend $100,000 promoting a movie about Rep. Michele Bachmann. The ads will be running in Iowa during the lead up to the oh-so-important August straw poll.

Speaking of the Iowa, Politico reports that Republicans there say the GOP primary is still anyone's race. Pawlenty and Bachmann are mentioned.

The Star Tribune looks at Pawlenty's Iowa operations.

Since announcing her run for president, Bachmann has missed dozens of votes.

Pawlenty tells a crowd in Iowa that the dust-up over his "American Comeback" ad has been put to rest.

Bachmann goes after Pawlenty for backing cap-and-trade and leaving Minnesota with a big deficit - some of the same talking points touted by Democrats.

The New York Times interviews Nick Ayers, Pawlenty's campaign manager.