Posts by Andy Birkey

Rep. Michele Bachmann is a contributing author to a new book being published by the Heritage Foundation. “Indivisible: Social and Economic Foundations of American Liberty” also contains chapters by religious right leaders Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, the National Organization for Marriage’s Jennifer Roback Morse and Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr., as well [...]

Five Minnesota lawmakers — four Democrats and a Republican — are proposing legislation they hope will reduce sexual assault in Minnesota. The bill, introduced Feb. 25, would give preference when planning taxpayer-funded events to hotels and meeting facilities that do not show violent or exploitative pornography.

Rep. Keith Ellison was the tie-breaking vote on a House Foreign Affairs Committee resolution calling on President Obama to “characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide.” The measure was vigorously opposed by Turkey, and following the vote the country recalled its ambassador to the United States. Ellison was undecided last [...]

A SurveyUSA poll released last week shows Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s approval rating at its lowest level in his career as governor. And that drop in support is happening as Pawlenty works to improve his standing among national Republicans in advance of a likely bid for president in 2012. The poll also showed a significant drop [...]

Minnesota politicians seem to be fueling a cottage industry of political comic books. First Rep. Michele Bachmann, and now Sen. Al Franken. But unlike the portrayal of Bachmann in her comic books, it appears Franken will get mostly complimentary treatment. Bluewater Productions says they’ll be debuting the comic book, called “Political Power: Al Franken,” in [...]

Tea Partiers are planning a rally to oppose health care reform and they’ve booked Rep. Michele Bachmann as a headliner for their event in St. Paul on March 13. The rally is sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots of the Twin Cities, Citizens Council on Health Care and Minnesota Majority.

Appearing with Rep. Alan Grayson on Larry King Live on Thursday night, Rep. Michele Bachmann said that President Obama’s health care reform plan would not bring down the costs of health care for average Americans. On Friday, Politifact evaluated her comment and ruled it “false.”

State Sen. Mee Moua said some who testified at a Mar. 2 hearing on gay marriage were so “fixated on the sex-making aspects” that they missed the spirit of the bill. But here’s another aspect of recent hearings on the topic that hasn’t been examined: Tuesday’s statement by Janet Boynes was nearly identical to one by Barb Davis White. One difference: Boynes didn’t repeat White’s claim that “Rosa Parks didn’t move to the front of the bus to support sodomy.”

Sen. Al Franken is among 16 senators calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to end the ban on blood donations by gay men. In a letter to FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg on Thursday, the senators called the policy “medically and scientifically unsound” and called out the double standard placed on gay men who [...]

Rep. Keith Ellison says he hasn’t yet made up his mind about whether or not Congress should recognize the Armenian Genocide of 1915 committed by the Ottoman Empire. A hearing is set for Thursday in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, of which Ellison is a member. Ellison told the Turkish news service Hurriyet that [...]