Jim Ramstad

Is the term “progressive Republican” an oxymoron? With religious hardliners and anti-tax crusaders dominating the party in recent years, that would certainly seem to be the case. But a documentary airing this Saturday on Twin Cities Public Television makes the case that GOP politicians in Minnesota have a long tradition of advocating policies aimed at alleviating poverty and reducing inequality.

If you accept taxpayer money, you have to accept that you’re going to receive public scrutiny. That simple point seems to be eluding Minnesota Teen Challenge (MNTC), the faith-based drug treatment program which secured a federal earmark in early 2008 arranged by Rep. Jim Ramstad, for its “Know the Truth” program which aims to prevent drug use.

Last week, the program sent two nearly identical letters to both the Minnesota Independent and the Huffington Post responding to articles critical of their programming.

Thursday’s 52-35 Senate vote on a proposed $14 billion bailout for the auto industry broke down along party lines in Minnesota: Norm Coleman voted against it; Amy Klobuchar for it. The vote on the House version a day earlier: Minnesota Democrats approved, while GOPers Michele Bachmann, Jim Ramstad and John Kline voted against. Democratic Reps. [...]

While Rep. Jim Ramstad’s name has been floated as a possible choice for “drug czar” in the administration of Barack Obama, the retiring nine-term congressman has apparently set his sights on another job, head of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — and the Republican has enlisted Democrats, notably Sen. Edward Kennedy and Reps. Patrick Kennedy and Pete Stark, to lobby on his behalf.

Throughout his career, retiring Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad championed the needs of people battling mental illness or chemical addiction, often through the lens of his own experience as a recovering alcoholic. For that reason, his name tops the list of possible appointments by the Obama administration as either drug czar or administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. But, should he get the nod for either spot, one Ramstad-sponsored earmark could raise questions in his confirmation hearings — $235,000 that went to the Minnesota Teen Challenge, an Assemblies of God drug treatment center with a history of controversial therapies and overt religious indoctrination.

Although his name has been floated to become Barack Obama’s “drug czar,” Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad’s allies have approached senior members of Obama’s transition team on his behalf to become the next Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration administrator instead.

Now that the State and Treasury department picks have been officially unveiled, the parlor game of Obama cabinet speculation turns to the less high-profile posts — the people no one hears much about unless it turns up that they’re harboring illegal immigrants in their garage. Almost since election day, retiring Rep. Jim Ramstad’s name has been rumored to be in the mix for Drug Czar (more formally known as the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy). Politico first floated the rumor in mid-November, but today the Christian Science Monitor keeps the speculation alive in an editorial that mentions Ramstad and calls for a greater emphasis on drug treatment.

House Democratic leaders have been working hard on behalf of Democratic challengers, showering them with money and personal attention to expand their majority and to curry favor with future colleagues. Here in Minnesota, Ashwin Madia is the beneficiary of their campaigning.

If state Rep. Erik Paulsen loses his race to replace retiring 3rd District U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, it will be the second straight election cycle in which a former staffer fails to succeed the veteran Minnesota congressman he served, despite his mentor’s endorsement. Coattails that once withstood even party-endorsement snubs now appear too tattered to pull proteges into office.

Three things happened Tuesday in the race for Minnesota’s 3rd District congressional seat: News broke that the National Republican Congressional Committee had canceled ad buys for state Rep. Erik Paulsen’s campaign. The seat’s current occupant, U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, a Republican, assailed Democrats for “gutter politics” in the race to succeed him. And Republican [...]