Posts by Luke Johnson
Bachmann, GOP 2012 hopefuls face conundrum on Libya opposition
With Libyan rebels easily overtaking Tripoli and the end of the Qaddafi regime all but imminent, GOP 2012 hopefuls who opposed the Libya intervention will have to decide whether or not to cheer the apparent success after months of what appeared to be a stalemate.
Audits force illegal immigrants to find underground work
Miriam Jordan of The Wall Street Journal reports on a pseudonymous couple who illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico to settle in Minneapolis. They held jobs paying well over the minimum wage, plus benefits, before the Obama Administration began cracking down on employers. Both of them now work lower-paid jobs, and worked for less than the minimum wage.
Jobs report: 117,000 new jobs, but more people left labor force
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its jobs report for July Friday morning, finding that 117,000 new jobs were created and the unemployment rate dropped very slightly from 9.2 percent to 9.1 percent. However, more people left the labor force than jobs were created.
Video: In new ad, Pawlenty takes credit for 2005 shutdown
Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty touts himself as a competent but firm manager in the 2004 Minnesota transit strike and 2005 Minnesota government shutdown in an ad playing in Des Moines and Ames, Iowa.
Minnesota not first state to face shutdown, but may be more severe
Minnesota is the only state to face the possibility of a government shutdown this year, but at least twenty states have had late budgets since 2002.
Pawlenty: The science is ‘bad’ when it comes to global warming
Before going off to the Council on Foreign Relations to give a speech on foreign policy, former Minnesota governor and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty appeared on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning. Asked about his stance on cap and trade, he acknowledged that he had changed his mind. He added, “I denounced it for a variety of reasons, one of which is the science is bad and it’s in great dispute,” repeating once more that there is a “scientific dispute” about the issue of climate change.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Vargas reveals he’s an undocumented immigrant
Jose Antonio Vargas, who wrote for the Washington Post and shared a Pulitzer Prize for the paper’s coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings, came out as an undocumented immigrant in a New York Times Magazine story that went live this morning.
Bachmann proposes cuts to veterans benefits
This week, Rep. Michelle Bachmann proposed $400 billion in “real and necessary” budget cuts in federal spending to avoid raising the budget ceiling from $14.3 trillion. The cuts include capping increases in Department of Veterans Affairs’ health care spending and reducing Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) payments for veterans, all to save a total of $4.5 billion.
Florida GOPer: Ellison represents the ‘antithesis of the principles upon which this country was established’
U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) appeared recently on the South Florida-based program The Shalom Show and said Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the only Muslim representative in Congress, represents the “antithesis of the principles upon which this country was established.”
Bachmann to give her own State of the Union rebuttal through Tea Party Express
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) will give her own rebuttal to President Obama’s State of The Union Tuesday, broadcast by the Tea Party Express.
