Minnesota Independent

Minnesota tea party to protest Medicaid signing

By Andy Birkey | 01.04.11 | 8:06 am

Gov. Mark Dayton is scheduled to sign an early Medicaid expansion for Minnesota on Wednesday, and the tea party is planning to be there to protest. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty refused to sign the state up for the early Medicaid opt-in, in which all states will have to enroll by 2014 as part of health care reform. An email from the Tea Party Patriots of Minnesota says they hope to have 100 protesters at the Capitol rotunda.

Abortion enters GAMC funding debate

By Andy Birkey | 02.22.10 | 11:04 am

Abortion politics got injected into the process of passing GAMC, a health care program for childless adults in Minnesota living below the poverty line. As the Minnesota House was set to pass the a bill to extend the program…

AM.MN: Landrieu tampers with Klobuchar’s gumbo

By Chris Steller | 01.28.10 | 8:30 am

For the second time this week, things didn’t go as planned for a costumed Minnesotan entering the offices of Louisiana’s Sen. Mary Landrieu. Amy Klobuchar, dressed like a New Orleans Saints fan, tried to make good on…

AM.MN: Reporters, GOP senators beg Franken to say something

By Chris Steller | 12.02.09 | 8:30 am

Some of Al Franken’s Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate want him to say something to disavow rampant characterization of their votes against his military-contractor amendment as pro-rape. “I don’t think it’s a very constructive…

Pawlenty critique of Baucus bill undercut by his cuts to care for poor

By Chris Steller | 10.13.09 | 11:07 am

“Congress should look at what we are doing in Minnesota, among the healthiest states in the nation,” writes Gov. Tim Pawlenty in a new blog post about the Baucus health care bill. “[G]overnment mandates will only shift the…

AM.MN: Pawlenty aid the poor? When puppies fly

By Chris Steller | 08.26.09 | 8:30 am

Gov. Pawlenty continued his joke-recycling program Tuesday by telling Fox News’ Sean Hannity that having the government watch your money is like having Michael Vick watch your dog for the weekend. Here’s another good…

Pawlenty’s health care cuts come amid hellish week for hospitals

By Chris Steller | 05.19.09 | 1:32 pm

Ominous news about job losses and financial woes at Minnesota hospitals over the last week coincide with Gov. Pawlenty’s line-item veto of $381 million in General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) grants and his vow to make more cuts by unallotment. But as bad as the doomsday scenarios are, they shouldn’t include St. Paul’s Regions Hospital closing — a prospect that a DFL press release warned of over the weekend.