U.S. Senate

As if Michele Bachmann’s 2010 re-election battle wasn’t already going to be a doozy, it’s begun shaping up as a proxy war between the forces of U.S. Sen. Al Franken and the man he bested in Minnesota’s recount, former Sen. Norm Coleman. “The eyes of the nation — and Michele Bachmann’s right-wing allies — will [...]

It happens in every recession: Medicaid enrollment leaps at precisely the same time that states are least able to afford the additional costs. The structural flaw has left state lawmakers threatening program cuts, Congress scrambling to find emergency funds to prevent a coverage crisis, and children’s health advocates urging an overhaul in the way Medicaid is funded. Trouble is, the Democrats’ health reform proposals do nothing to address the problem.

No, it’s not the return flight-path for those errant Northwest Airlines pilots. It’s U.S. Sen. Al Franken’s hand-drawn map of Minnesota, done on spec for National Geographic. 

The push is on to dilute the climate change bills moving through Congress, and it’s not coming only from conservatives. Mother Jones’ Kate Sheppard reports today that 14 Senate Democrats — including Minnesota’s Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar — are urging their leadership to amend the proposal to grant more free polluting permits to the [...]

While Minnesota’s drawn-out 2008 Senate election didn’t top MAD Magazine’s upcoming “MAD 20″ list of the “dumbest people, events and things” of 2009, the issue does promise a cure for “electile dysfunction” — in the form of a fake ad for “Democra-cialis,” showing Al Franken and Norm Coleman in side-by-side bathtubs.

Sen. Al Franken spoke at a Senate hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) on Thursday. ENDA, which is vociferously opposed by the religious right, would make it illegal to fire somebody because of their sexual orientation. Franken sits on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee which held the first hearing the bill has [...]

U.S. Sen. Al Franken introduced legislation Thursday that would encourage states to examine untested rape kits for DNA evidence. The bill would also provide for more health workers trained to administer rape-kit exams, particularly for Native American women.

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine bristled at Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s litmus test for deciding whether she can call herself a Republican. “I’ve been a lifelong Republican. I haven’t changed. I don’t know what the problem is. I really don’t,” Snowe told the Politico. “Other Republicans could probably borrow more from me … in [...]

In making the case for his federal same-day voter registration bill, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison points to how much voter fraud was alleged in the “highly scrutinized” Norm Coleman-Al Franken U.S. Senate contest due to Minnesotans’ ability to register to vote on Election Day: none.

Politics in Minnesota has posted a lovely new infographic chart showing DFL candidates for governor and the endorsements they’ve earned.