Minnesota Independent

Bachmann ‘heartsick’ that she can’t defund health care reform

By Andy Birkey | 02.22.11 | 10:04 am

Rep. Michele Bachmann told the Conservative Republican Forum podcast on Saturday that she was “heartsick” in learning on Friday that the new Republican majority in the U.S. House was powerless to defund the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. She said that winning the Senate and the presidency in 2012 would be the top priority for defunding proponents — meaning the health care reform law will remain in place for at least two years.

GOP abortion plans could lead to more teen pregnancies, abortions in Minnesota

By Andy Birkey | 02.17.11 | 1:40 pm

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.

Dayton unveils budget with program cuts and tax increases

By Andy Birkey | 02.15.11 | 1:16 pm

Gov. Mark Dayton’s budget proposal, unveiled Tuesday, includes a tax hike for the wealthiest Minnesotans, cuts to health care for 7,200 low-income adults, an increase in spending for K-12 education, a 6 percent decrease in the state workforce,and steady funding for local governments. “I have always said that a budget is about values and priorities, as well as dollars and cents,” Dayton said. “My budget represents my values and priorities, one of which is to keep my promises that I made to the people of Minnesota last fall.”

President Clinton: Bachmann, new Republicans in political ‘parallel universe’

By Andy Birkey | 02.07.11 | 8:00 am

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, former President Bill Clinton said that Rep. Michele Bachmann’s assertion that the United States has the best health care system in the world is not true and that the new crop of Republicans in Congress are living “in a parallel universe divorced from reality with no facts.” Clinton was responding to comments Bachmann made during her Tea Party response to President Obama’s State of the Union address.

Bachmann chides Dayton over Medicaid expansion

By Andy Birkey | 01.24.11 | 12:57 pm

Rep. Michele Bachmann appeared at a press conference at the Minnesota Capitol early Monday to chastise Gov. Mark Dayton for signing an executive order opting the state into early Medicaid expansion to help provide health care coverage for childless, low-income adults. Bachmann said that “we are on a collision course with reality” over Medicaid, adding that Dayton must withdraw his executive order or a “lawsuit may be a possibility in the future.”

Minnesota Catholics unveil legislative agenda: Ban on gay marriage, help for the poor

By Andy Birkey | 01.19.11 | 2:17 pm

The Minnesota Catholic Conference, an organization representing “the united voice of the Catholic bishops of Minnesota on public policy matters,” has released its legislative priorities for Minnesota’s 2012 session. At the top of the list is a constitutional amendment banning relationship rights for same-sex couples. The group also says it will work to protect the safety net for the poor, even advocating tax increases if necessary.

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.

Rep. Michele Bachmann. Photo: Republican Conference, Flickr

Bachmann calls for Congress to defund Planned Parenthood

By Andy Birkey | 12.07.10 | 10:48 am

Rep. Michele Bachmann called for the defunding of Planned Parenthood in an interview with Republican news outlet CNSNews. Bachmann also said that health care reform should be defunded as well because she says it pays for abortions. Much of what Bachmann had to say about abortion in the interview has previously been ruled false by independent fact-checkers.

Pawlenty says his presidential aspirations include health care repeal

By Andy Birkey | 11.08.10 | 10:20 am

Gov. Tim Pawlenty told CNN’s Candy Crowley on Sunday that if he runs for president, he will campaign on repealing health care reform. But despite his public protestations about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Pawlenty administration has quietly taken advantage of many of the new law’s provisions.

Sparks fly in Cravaack, Oberstar race

By Andy Birkey | 10.20.10 | 3:47 pm

A Tuesday debate in Duluth spotlighted the excitement that Republicans are feeling as they try to unseat Rep. James Oberstar, an 18-term congressman who has won reelection with more than 59 percent of the vote for decades. The crowd was raucous, repeatedly interrupting the candidates, and Oberstar’s barbs at the audience have become soundbites for the national media. Oberstar has ramped up his campaigning in the district, while his opponent, Republican Chip Cravaack, is even taking heat from some conservatives for being too liberal.