Posts by Jesse Zwick
Unemployment extension could be linked to Bush tax cuts
Democrats in Washington are catching on to the idea that they can’t capitulate to an extension of Bush-era tax rates for the rich without at least demanding something in return, and an extension of federal unemployment benefits, set to expire at the end of the month, is increasingly looking like it will be a part of the bargain.
How likely is another Franken-Coleman-style recount?
With allegations of voter fraud swirling in several swing states and both parties dispatching lawyers into the field at record rates, there’s been a lot of buzz about the chances of a repeat of the kind of contested election the country witnessed with Sen. Al Franken and former Sen. Norm Coleman in 2008. So, how likely is it we’ll see a repeat of Minnesota 2008?
As voters head to polls, GOP prepares for legal challenges
Prompted by memories of the recount and election contest in Minnesota’s 2008 U.S. Senate race and the court-decided presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000, both major political parties have been preparing lawyers should election results be challenged today. But Republicans have come under fire for concentrating much of their attention on the issue of potential voter fraud, a focus that some voting rights groups argue is designed to discourage voting.
Third-party candidacies enjoy a surge unlike any since 1934
A lot of pundits have drawn comparisons between the current midterm election cycle and the GOP wave year of 1994, but the University of Minnesota’s politics blog argues that an equally apt comparison could be made with the year 1934.
Bachmann among Republicans who bashed stimulus while lobbying for funds
Republicans have spent the better part of the last year and a half railing against a government stimulus package they often blame for crowding out more jobs than it saved. But the Center for Public Integrity has published an extensive report pointing out that some of the bill’s loudest detractors, including Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann, made the jobs case themselves for stimulus projects in their state or district. The list is as unlikely as it is long.
American Future Fund scrutinized for ties to ethanol industry
Another day, another Section 501 nonprofit under scrutiny for its political activity. Today The New York Times profiles the American Future Fund, a group that in 2008 backed Sen. Norm Coleman, then a co-chair of a Senate biofuels caucus. AFF does not disclose its donors but was revealed in interviews last week to have been founded with seed money from Iowa businessman Bruce Rastetter, a co-founder and chief executive of Hawkeye Energy Holdings, one of the nation’s larger ethanol companies.
Wisconsin’s Feingold turns down DSCC money
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is making some major ad buys, shoring up Democrats facing tight races in a number of states including Colorado, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, Illinois, Delaware, Connecticut and Washington. One place you probably won’t see the group spending money, however, is Wisconsin.
Coleman’s American Action Network infuses cash into close Senate races
Former Sen. Norm Colman, whose conservative 501(c)4 group American Action Network shares an office building with Karl Rove-brainchildren American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, is drawing some flack here in Minnesota for reneging on his previous support for banning soft money in politics and his disavowal of negative advertising.
GOP gambles with its ‘Pledge to America’
After following a long road to completion, the GOP’s “Pledge to America” is finally being announced today in Sterling, Virginia, and almost everybody thinks it’s a bad idea. That’s because the document, while it proposes a seemingly well trodden…
Judge: Election law challenged by Emmer backers will stand
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank for the District of Minnesota denied a temporary injunction in a lawsuit brought by supporters of Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, including an anti-abortion group and an anti-tax organization. They sued to overturn the law on free speech grounds and had asked Frank to suspend the disclosure requirements immediately.
