Minnesota’s congressional delegation, as well as its likely presidential candidates, responded to last night’s news that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been killed in an American surgical raid near Islamabad. Reactions ranged from thanks to the military and calls for continued vigilance against the terrorist threat to rare kudos for President Obama from former Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
A bill to continue a defunct school voucher program in Washington, D.C., passed the U.S. House on Wednesday afternoon by a largely party-line vote. Reps. Michele Bachmann, Chip Cravaack, John Kline and Erik Paulsen voted for the measure while Reps. Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, Collin Peterson and Tim Walz voted against the bill. The controversial program has been criticized as ineffective and essentially a tool to funnel taxpayer money to religious schools. President Obama stated on Tuesday that he opposes the measure.
Reps. Michele Bachmann, Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum voted against a resolution on Tuesday that would continue federal spending for the next three weeks and avoid a government shutdown. The resolution passed with the support of both Republicans and Democrats. Bachmann opposed the bill because it did not defund health care reform while McCollum and Ellison have opposed it because of defense spending they view as wasteful.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting Rep. Michele Bachmann following a vote to defund the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Though the Democrats are targeting Bachmann, her Democratic colleagues, Reps. Tim Walz and Collin Peterson, joined the Republicans on the vote Thursday. Bachmann and Rep. Chip Cravaack both represent districts with a high rate of foreclosures.
DFL Rep. Tim Walz and Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen (pictured) have joined together to urge Gov. Mark Dayton to sign a bill that would lift Minnesota’s moratorium on new nuclear power plants. The moratorium repeal is currently in conference committee after passing the House and is likely to end up on Dayton’s desk this legislative session.
Congressional Republicans are set to vote on a trio of bills intended to prevent health care clinics that perform abortions from receiving federal funds, and leadership has offered a budget that slashes the Title X program, which funds contraception and reproductive health services. A study by the Guttmacher Institute released on Wednesday shows that those cuts would be devastating to low-income women in Minnesota. Without this funding, Minnesota would’ve seen 33 percent more teenage pregnancies — and a spike in the number of abortions.
House Republicans passed a repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by a vote of 245-189, mainly along party lines — only three Democrats joined with the Republicans. The vote prompted sharp reactions from all sides of Minnesota politics: Rep. Michele Bachmann called for the repeal of President Obama, while Rep. Keith Ellison said that Republicans voted dump 32 millions Americans’ health coverage.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar is extremely popular with Minnesotans, according to a Public Policy Polling survey released on Tuesday. Klobuchar bests hypothetical Senate contenders such as Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Sen. Norm Coleman, Reps. Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen, as well as Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. She also has a high favorability rating.
Democrat Collin Peterson joined Republican Reps. John Kline, Erik Paulsen and Michele Bachmann in voting against an extension of the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $250,000. The middle-class tax relief measure passed the U.S. House on Thursday by a vote of 234 to 188. Although Bachmann didn’t vote, she had plenty to say about the bill.
Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen won reelection in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District on Tuesday night, with the Associated Press calling the race about an hour after polls closed. At that time, Paulsen led DFLer Jim Meffert 58 percent to 37 percent with 80 percent of Hennepin County reporting.
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