Franken, Bachmann, Walz and Ellison "Bobble Reps"

Asked at Saturday’s Netroots Minnesota conference what blogs he follows, Rep. Tim Walz pulled out his iPhone and rattled off a few sites: Talking Points Memo, Bluestem Prairie, MN Publius and others. Then he showed off his favorite iPhone app — a new one that features his likeness and that of every other member of the House and Senate as shakeable cartoon bobbleheads.

The 99-cent “Bobble Rep” app helps users find out who represents them in Congress, either through a direct search or by using the iPhone’s GPS locator. The caricatures — heads for each of 540 legislators put on one of 12 bodies — were drawn by MAD Magazine artist Tom Richmond to be fun and nonpartisan. But Apple didn’t see it that way: it rejected the application claiming “it ridicules public figures.”

Richmond wrote:

This is truly ridiculous. These caricatures aren’t mean or very exaggerated. They are simple, fun cartoon likenesses of the politicians and the purpose of the app is an informational database. There is no editorial commentary involved at all.

Indeed, related projects, while likewise tame, could probably be construed as far more “offensive,” to use Apple’s word. Sen. Franken, for instance, was rendered as a 3D vampire bobblehead, “The Count,” (along with Norm Coleman) by the St. Paul Saints baseball team in March. And earlier this month, Franken and Coleman were given the MAD Magazine treatment in a spoof ad for “Democra-cialis, ” a cure for the kind of “electile dysfunction” that plagued their 2008 Senate battle, in MAD’s list of “dumbest people, events and things” of 2009.

But last Monday, Apple reversed its decision, green-lighting the app that made its way to Walz’s cellphone.

Walz’s wielded smartphone could’ve been a good prop for another question he answered — about net neutrality. He said he’s “absolutely convinced that we must keep net neutrality,” and thanks to his resolve, “AT&T doesn’t even come to my office anymore” to lobby against it, he added. He said he’s surprised that conservatives aren’t more concerned about the freedom issues surrounding the possibility of corporations controlling what internet users can and can’t access.

“If you want to wave the patriot banner,” he said, “wave it on net neutrality.”

Here’s how each of Minnesota’s Bobble Reps look:

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning …

STATEWIDE: Gov. Pawlenty’s 2004 pledge to end homelessness by 2010 hasn’t happened yet. Maybe he should have promised a moon shot. [Associated Press]

ST. CLOUD: Collegians study Berlin Wall. You know you’ve been put out to pasture as a historical event when you’re the subject of a two-credit class that attracts seven students. [St. Cloud Times]

SEVENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson voted to add an abortion ban to the health bill. The amendment passed, but he voted against the bill anyway. [Smart Politics]

ST. PAUL: Easy come, easy not go. Pawlenty’s quick trade trip to Mexico planned for today got put off when President Felipe Calderon had more pressing obligations than meeting with the next president of the United States. [Star Tribune]

ALBERT LEA: Legionnaires want a digital sign. It would change every nine seconds, in a historic district. [Albert Lea Tribune]

ST. PAUL: You say your job is killing you? For Minnesotans who really did die on the job, a new memorial on the State Capitol grounds opens next year. [Associated Press]

“This was a bipartisan vote,” said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer with a grin after the House adjourned for the night.

Minnesota’s congressional delegation includes a united front of Republicans opposed — Rep. Erik Paulsen was ready with his rationale for voting no — as well as one Democrat, Collin Peterson, who fulfilled a promise to join them. Peterson was one of 39 Democrats to oppose the bill.

Image: iStockphoto

Third-quarter campaign finance reports seem to show a trend: The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Rep. Michele Bachmann, whose cable-TV and townhall tour has had her rattling off now-infamous claims about “anti-American views” and wrist-slitting to oppose health care reform, is raking in the dough today, thanks to a new fundraising appeal that calls supporters “patriots,” opponents money-grubbers, and the Obama administration “Gangster Government.” Her third-quarter take of $345,000 doesn’t include the $121,000 raised since Wednesday.

But Bachmann’s not the only case. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who screamed “You lie!” at the president during a joint session of Congress, raised $2.7 million in the third quarter — a million more than his opponent, Iraq war veteran Rob Miller, raised.

On the other side of the aisle, Florida’s Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson has seen a fundraising surge after his bold statements in favor of health care reform, although, as Mediaite puts it, his words were “a far cry” from Wilson’s decorum-busting outburst. The day after presenting his summary of the GOP plan for health care reform — Don’t get sick! And if you do get sick, die quickly! — he received $114,000 in donations, including $1,000 apiece from the campaigns of Minnesota Democratic Reps. Collin Peterson and Jim Oberstar.

Paulsen won the Third Congressional District post last year with 48 percent of the vote. He has no announced challengers for next year’s contest. The Cook Political Report classifies the district as “likely Republican” in 2010.

Third quarter filings are due at the FEC today. Fundraising tallies for three other members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation have so far been posted on the agency’s web site. St. Paul Democrat Betty McCollum brought in $136,000 during the three-month period and reported $128,000 in the bank. Fellow DFLers Collin Peterson and Jim Oberstar reported raising $108,000 and $193,000 respectively. Peterson had $547,000 cash on hand at the end of September, while Oberstar had more than $1 million in reserve.

MnIndy file photo

Of 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, only ten have missed more votes this session than Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, according to the Washington Post’s tally. Bachmann has missed 105 votes, or 13.6 percent of all votes. Fellow Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen had the state’s best record, missing only six votes in the 111th Congress, just one less than Rep. Tim Walz missed.

While California Democrat Rep. Hilda Solis had the highest rate of missed votes — she missed 59 of 78 possibles votes — the number of missed votes by party is roughly the same: Democrats missed 3.5 percent of votes, while Republicans missed 3.3 percent.

Another Minnesotan high on the list: At number 23, Rep. Keith Ellison missed ten percent of the votes, casting 695 and missing 78. Here’s how others in Minnesota’s delegation fared:

Rep. Betty McCollum: 16 missed (2.1 percent of all votes), 757 cast

Rep. Collin Peterson: 25 missed (1.9), 758 cast

Rep. Jon Kline: 12 missed (1.6), 761 cast

Rep. James Oberstar: 10 missed (1.3), 763 cast

Rep. Tim Walz: 7 missed (1.3), 766 cast

Rep. Erik Paulsen: 6 missed (0.8), 767 cast

As we reported in July, Bachmann and Ellison’s voting records were affected by personal obligations. Both missed time during the week of June 18, which had a record number of votes: Bachmann was spending time with family after a relative’s death, and Ellison was attending his son’s graduation from his Americorps program.

Via Dusty Trice.

The bill would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the federal government’s hate crimes statutes, while also providing grants to local law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute suspected hate crimes.

Minnesota’s DFL members of Congress voted for the bill with the exception of Peterson, a longtime opponent of LGBT-supportive legislation. The state’s Republican members of Congress voted against the bill except for Paulsen, who represents the moderate district encompassing western Hennepin County.

Earlier this month, a number of Paulsen’s constituents met at his district office to convince him to support the bill, work that seems to have paid off, as Paulsen voted against a similar bill earlier this year.

A nearly identical bill has already passed the Senate with the backing of Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, but the Senate must approve the new bill passed by the House. That could happen as early as next week.

Minnesota Reps. Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum were the only two members of the state’s delegation voting against the measure. Reps. Tim Walz, James Oberstar, Michele Bachmann, John Kline, Erik Paulsen and Collin Peterson all supported the measure, which was attached to the student loans bill.

Released to coincide with President Obama’s health care speech last night, the ads will run in Peterson’s district as well as those of Reps. Mike Ross, D-Ark., and Baron Hill, D-Ind., and hinge on comments made about Blue Dog Democrats by Rep. Pete Stark. Late last month the California Democrat criticized moderate party members who pushed for revisions to the Democratic health care reform package: “They’re for the most part, I hate to say brain dead, but they’re just looking to raise money from insurance companies and promote a right-wing agenda that is not really very useful in this whole process.” The ads conclude: “Tell Congress: No government-run health care.”

The commercials, which will also air in Washington, D.C., were produced by a group that has ties to both the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads in 2004 and the Willie Horton ad in 1988. Two AFF media consultants are linked to that group. One should be familiar to Minnesotans: Ben Ginsberg, one of Coleman’s election contest lawyers, was, at least as of last summer, legal counsel for the group. He served as chief outside counsel to the Bush-Cheney campaign, but resigned in August 2004 when it was revealed that he was also providing advice to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which sponsored error-riddled attacks on the military service record of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

Last March the DFL filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission over AFF’s pro-Coleman ad, alleging the noprofit violated federal election law by failing to register and report as a political committee. The FEC ruled in AFF’s favor.

Elsewhere in Minnesota headlines today … 

BEMIDJI: Collin Peterson holds another town hall. If the 25-percent-loon quotient that the congressman dreads was in attendance, those folks were booing long-winded questions and the guy who called Obama “the boy king” along with everybody else. [Bemidji Pioneer]

FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Tim Walz warms up with telephone town hall. It was like an old-fashioned party line as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the congressman took questions on health care Tuesday; he’ll hold an in-person town hall in Mankato on Thursday. [Rochester Post-Bulletin]

STATEWIDE: Honey, it’s Amy Klobuchar on the phone. Minnesota’s senior senator and a doctor from the Mayo Clinic will be taking your calls on health care this Sunday at 7 p.m. [West Central Tribune]

MINNEAPOLIS: Park-tax petitions sufficient. An amendment to give the park board independent levy authority will be on the ballot in November, as long as the charter commission agrees to meet on its “off week” to okay it. [Star Tribune]

KANDIYOHI COUNTY: Officials see ordinance as “tool” to halt homecoming pranks. A regular victim of such hijinks already greets pranksters with a tool of his own: a squirt gun loaded with fox urine. [West Central Tribune]

ALEXANDRIA: Big Ole gets helmet-wings reattached. It was only a coincidence that repairs to the wind-damaged 28-foot fiberglass viking took place the same day Brett Favre flew into Minnesota on the wings of Zygi Wilf’s purple-and-gold airplane. [Alexandria Echo Press]