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Second quarter political fundraising reports are due to the Federal Elections Commission by Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar appears to be the first member of the Minnesota delegation to file, reporting revenue of $238,807 in the period from April through June.
Gun rights advocates hope to flip red-state Dems on Sotomayor
By David Weigel 7/14/09
Activists grasp for political leverage most Republicans concede is out of reach.
Minnesota News Feed
GOP Representative Worried That Public Option Has Lower Costs, “Advantages”
7/14/09 10:50 AM
Huffington Post
Sotomayor denies racial bias in ‘wise Latina’ remark under questioning at confirmation hearing
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Media Monitor: An advertising resurgence in Minneapolis?
By Paul Schmelzer 7/13/09
As Campbell Mithun picks up a coveted Silver Pencil at New York’s One Show, a group of 27 ad agencies are collaborating to rebrand Minneapolis as a the “City of Advertising.” Plus, the local angle on the Times’ story on missing Somali youth.
At current rate, nine million homes to face foreclosure by 2012
By Mary Kane 7/13/09
The time may be ripe for a shift in strategy as the foreclosure machine grinds on, and new foreclosure notices reach a troubling 10,000 per day. Lawmakers have a choice: let the foreclosures go on for perhaps years, at the expense of millions of homeowners, or take the crisis head on.
Capitol Catchall: Back to work for most, first day for Franken
By Andy Birkey 7/10/09
This week Minnesota’s members of Congress went back to work after the July 4 break, except for Sen. Al Franken who was showing up — finally — for the first time. Rep. Keith Ellison put forward a credit reform bill, Rep. Betty McCollum announced her plan to expand the Peace Corps, and Republicans criticized the Democrats’ energy and stimulus policies. Here’s how the week shook down…
Video: Senators honor Coleman
By Chris Steller 7/10/09
The U.S. Senate took an hour Thursday to honor former Sen. Norm Coleman. Here are clips of the complete tributes to Coleman from 10 senators (seven Republicans and three Democrats, including Amy Klobuchar), as well as transcribed highlights of their remarks — with particular attention to what they had to say about Coleman’s future.
Last-minute nod to farmers could undermine climate bill
By Aaron Wiener 7/9/09
As the U.S. Senate takes up debate on climate legislation, environmental groups are slamming a biofuels provision.
Clark stays mum as field in Bachmann’s district takes shape
By Paul Demko 7/9/09
Tarryl Clark has been rumored to be eyeing either the governor’s race or a challenge to U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in the Sixth Congressional District, but she has remained cagey about her ambitions. The local DFL chair says Clark “is actively considering getting into the Sixth Congressional District race.”
Public transit loses to polluters in climate bill subsidies
By Mike Lillis 7/9/09
WASHINGTON — As Senate lawmakers launch new efforts to curb the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, some key members have joined local transportation officials and environmentalists to ask a seemingly relevant question: Where’s the commitment to public transit?
Report: Minnesota’s political refund program is ‘healthier’ model for country
By Paul Demko 7/8/09
Minnesota has the highest level of participation by small political donors in the country, according to a new study by the Campaign Finance Institute. But that status is threatened by Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s elimination of the state’s Political Contribution Refund program, which the report calls “a big success” and “a much healthier system” that the rest of the country can learn from.
Coleman’s future: Governor, or something more lucrative?
By Paul Demko 7/7/09
Norm Coleman conceded the U.S. Senate contest last week, but immediately prompted speculation that he’ll run for governor in 2010. Does the Republican have the political clout — and the personal finances — to be a viable candidate?
Palin and Pawlenty: Kiss-off cousins
By Chris Steller 7/6/09
The announcements by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty came 3,100 miles and 31 days apart. But observers in Alaska and Minnesota see close ties between the two Republican governors’ intentions to leave office.
Minneapolis to host Lutheran debate on gay clergy, same-sex ceremonies
By Andy Birkey 7/6/09
Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will gather in Minneapolis this August for a vote on whether to become more welcoming to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Lutherans. Their decision could pave the way for gay and lesbian pastors, bring same-sex commitment ceremonies to local congregations and impact policy in a state with a large number of Lutheran elected officials.
A chapter closes for the Coleman-Franken chattering classes
By Chris Steller 7/2/09
What was that all about? We shook two 24-hour news cycles’ worth of media mumbo-jumbo on the Coleman-Franken fracas, and this is what fell out.
Senators hold personal stake in bailed-out banks
By Mike Lillis 7/2/09
The senators who voted last fall to approve the federal bailout of Wall Street hold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock in the very banks that Washington has rescued in the nine months since.
Union lauds McCollum for health-care efforts
By Paul Demko 7/2/09
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum’s failure to support legislation that would establish a universal, single-payer health-care system has drawn criticism from some liberal activists. But on Thursday, members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota showed up at McCollum’s St. Paul office to praise her efforts on the health-care front.
Communities brace for unallotment’s effects
By Andy Birkey 7/2/09
Communities around the state are struggling to deal with the budget cuts imposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotment authority. Pawlenty signed into law $2.7 billion in cuts to local government aid, human services grants, higher education and medical assistance for the poor. Many parts of the state are bracing for the impact.
Blog: The Monitor
Oberstar pulls in $240,000
By Paul Demko 7/14/09 12:17 PM
Four DFLers, so far, won’t abide by party nomination process
By Paul Schmelzer 7/14/09 11:25 AM
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Five Democrats running for governor have agreed to abide by the party’s nominating process, reports Eric Black at MinnPost, but several others — including some well-funded presumptive front-runners — won’t make such a promise.
Infamous broadcaster Sinclair mulls bankruptcy
By Paul Schmelzer 7/14/09 10:41 AM
Locally, Sinclair Broadcast Group is known for operating The CW Twin Cities, but the television company is best known for its controversial actions leading up to the 2004 election. In April of that year, Sinclair issued a statement that its ABC affiliates wouldn’t be airing an episode of Nightline that honored U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, characterizing the broadcast as an anti-war statement. In October 2004, the company broadcast Stolen Honor, an anti-John Kerry documentary impugning the then-presidential candidate’s Vietnam war service and post-war peace activism.
But it’s not politics that is hurting the company: it’s the economy. Sinclair indicated in Securities and Exchange Commission filings Friday that it’s considering filing for bankruptcy protection.
Vox Bachmann: Rep croons on Auto-Tune the News
By Paul Schmelzer 7/14/09 9:42 AM
Rep. Michele Bachmann leads off the new installment of Auto-Tune the News, musician Michael Gregory’s online “faux R&B series,” which features news figures’ voices filtered through the Auto-Tune audio processor. This edition tackles the recent climate change legislation, tweaking Bachmann’s speech about how the bill represents “tyranny of the government.” Also making cameos: Sarah Palin, Michael Jackson, John Boehner, Henry Waxman and others. more »
Dem adviser: Pawlenty’s ‘uninspiring,’ Palin won’t be 2012 GOP candidate
By Paul Schmelzer 7/14/09 9:07 AM
While he sees Sarah Palin as “the bright red thread in the dull, grey fabric of the Republican Party,” Democratic campaign strategist Robert Shrum says the former VP candidate doesn’t stand a chance of being the GOP’s nominee for president in 2012. Further, at The Week this morning, the adviser behind campaigns like Al Gore’s in 2000 and John Kerry’s in 2004 calls Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty “uninspiring.”
AM.MN: Brooklyn Park man indicted in terror plot
By Paul Schmelzer 7/14/09 8:30 AM
A Brooklyn Park man was among two whose indictments on terrorism-related charges were unsealed in District Court in Minneapolis Monday. Salah Osman Ahmed, 26, is suspected of providing support in “a conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure persons in a foreign country” — his native Somalia.
Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning…
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Who interrupted Franken’s statement on Sotomayor?
By Andy Birkey 7/14/09 6:45 AM
Just as Sen. Al Franken began his opening statements during the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, a woman shouted “wrong about abortion!” and ran out of the hearing.
That woman was Norma McCorvey of Texas, otherwise known as “Jane Roe,” the central figure of the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade.
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Census boycott makes strange bedfellows for Bachmann
By Andy Birkey 7/14/09 6:39 AM
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Rep. Michele Bachmann is not the only person saying she won’t fill out the full U.S. Census. She’s joined in her boycott by a group she has vociferously spoken out against — undocumented immigrants.
WaPo profiles Franken campaign manager
By Paul Demko 7/13/09 4:41 PM
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When Stephanie Schriock took over as Al Franken’s campaign manager in May, most political pundits had all but written his electoral obituary. Franken’s campaign had been beset by revelations about failing to properly pay his taxes and old, off-color jokes that didn’t play so well on the campaign trail.
Franken: Deference not shown by courts to Congress in recent years
By Paul Schmelzer 7/13/09 2:07 PM
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Just as he promised, Sen. Al Franken used his time at the first day of Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination hearing to bring up topics largely unmentioned by those who came before him — namely voting rights, the free flow of information on the internet and preserving reproductive rights for women. But he spent the longest portion of his speech today focusing on familiar terms: “judicial activism” and “deference to Congress.”
Gaertner campaign adds communications director
By Paul Demko 7/13/09 1:43 PM
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Kate Monson has been hired as communications director for Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner’s gubernatorial campaign. Monson previously worked on former Blaine Mayor Elwyn Tinklenberg’s unsuccessful congressional bid in 2008 and is a graduate of St. Olaf College and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
Klobuchar references Tyesha Edwards killing in Sotomayor hearing
By Paul Schmelzer 7/13/09 1:30 PM
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As the first woman senator from Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar positioned Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor along a not-so-long line of women high court justices at today’s nomination hearing. Heralding her “intellectual curiosity and independence” and her humility, Klobuchar called Sotomayor “another woman with an opportunity to be a justice for all of us.” Then, Klobuchar conjured her past as Hennepin County attorney, both by commenting on specific cases Sotomayor has been involved with and by drawing parallels between one of Sotomayor’s cases and one of her own.
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