“We did pass all of the pro-life legislation that we thought was very important whether it be fetal pain, whether it be stem cell research, whether it be human cloning,” Zellers told Minnesota Public Radio. “A lot of these things we passed. Gov. Dayton vetoed those bills.”

Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) President Leo LaLonde sent a fundraising letter to supporters last week that lambasted Republican leaders for not pushing pro-life policies hard enough.

“[We] felt confident that House and Senate leaders would insist that at least some of our protective measures would be included in the final budget,” LaLonde’s letter read. “Senate Majority Leader Koch and Speaker of the House Zellers quickly struck a deal with Gov. Dayton, and in the blink of an eye all five pro-life measures that has been passed by nearly two-thirds, veto-proof margin during the legislative session were negotiated away.”

Zellers said the legislature passed the bills desired by pro-lifers, but that Dayton insisted the social issues not be included in the final bills.

Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday that GOP hearings around whether he has the authority to order a vote on union representation for home child-care workers were a “political ploy” from a part-time legislature that’s already drawn out the session.

“I’m well aware of the legal parameters that are available, but that doesn’t dictate policy. But I have a general counsel. I have the Attorney General. I don’t need a legislative show to trot this out,” Dayton told MPR.

Republican legislative leaders are planning hearings on the issue this week. Dayton told reporters that he’s still receiving legal advice regarding his authority to issue this sort of executive order, although governors of other states have ordered similar actions in the past.

Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Majority Leader Matt Dean sent Dayton a letter last week questioning if the governor had authority in this area. “Any unionization of these independent businesses runs contrary to easing [Minnesota families' financial burdens]. Increased cost would lead to decreases availability, exactly the opposite of what we both want for Minnesota families.”

Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, t0ld the Star Tribune that she’s worried the unionization of child-care workers would mean “propaganda,” like craft projects using macaroni noodles to spell out “tax the rich.”

A report by non-partisan House staff last week said the issue of the governor’s authority was cloudy, but that it’s likely that the state’s Bureau of Mediation Services, which typically oversees unionization efforts, doesn’t have jurisdiction over the workers, who are independent contractors.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) say they’ve obtained signed cards supporting the union from close to a majority of the 11,000 home child-care workers since organizing began in 2005.

The unions initially requested that Dayton issue an order recognizing the union, which Dayton denied. He told the Star Tribune that he’d “rather there be an election than have [unionization] imposed on child-care workers and providers.”

Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) sent a scathing fundraising letter to supporters complaining about the 2011 legislative session and blaming Republican leadership for not pressuring Gov. Mark Dayton to sign anti-abortion legislation.

Politics in Minnesota’s Paul Demko notes that MCCL President Leo LaLonde went after House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, both of whom are Republicans. The letter notes that MCCL’s finances are at an all-time low.

“I am going to be brutally honest,” LaLonde wrote. “I am devastated by the fact that not only were we unsuccessful in enacting any new pro-life laws this session, but we lost an existing pro-life policy for the first time since Roe V. Wade legalized abortion on demand!”

LaLonde criticized Republicans for the group’s legislative failures.

“[We] felt confident that House and Senate leaders would insist that at least some of our protective measures would be included in the final budget,” he said. “Senate Majority Leader Koch and Speaker of the House Zellers quickly struck a deal with Gov. Dayton, and in the blink of an eye all five pro-life measures that has been passed by nearly two-thirds, veto-proof margin during the legislative session were negotiated away.”

He added, “The Republican leaders lost sight of what is truly at stake—the lives of innocent human beings.”

The letter asked supporters for donations because MCCL is struggling financially.

“The uncertainty of the economy has not been kind to MCCL. Donations are down,” the letter reads. MCCL also said that they spent a lot of money in the 2011 legislative session: ”Our coffers are at an all-time low-will you help us?”

Controversial preacher Bradlee Dean continues to claim that House Speaker Kurt Zellers asked to be on Dean’s show, Sons of Liberty, immediately preceding Dean’s infamous prayer at the opening of a Minnesota House session, according to an interview Dean did with City Pages reporter Andy Mannix. Zellers has denied that he ever asked to be on the show. Dean also said that Rep. Ernie Leidiger, R-Mayer, who invited Dean to give the prayer but later stated he didn’t know much about Dean, was “behind” Dean’s ministry before he was against it.

“Speaker Zellers did not ask to be on Bradlee Dean’s radio show,” Jodi Boyne, director of public affairs for the Minnesota House Republican Caucus, told the Minnesota Independent last month.

But that’s not the story that Bradlee Dean told Mannix.

CP: The last thing I want to ask you about is this whole debacle with the prayer. I read a week or two ago that you had said you actually had talked to Zellers before.

BDS: Nicole [another ministry member] had ran into Zellers, and he had said to her, “I know you guys.” And he gave his card and said, “Get a hold of so and so, I’d like to be on your radio show.”

I think what happened is he just felt a little heat and he bowed. That’s what he did.

CP: He made it seem like he had no idea who you were.

BDS: He’s a liar, he straight up lied.

Dean has generated controversy in Minnesota politics for his tied to Republicans, including Rep. Michele Bachmann, and his statements about gays and lesbians being criminals and pedophiles.

Dean also said that Leidiger approached Dean at his “My War” documentary, not a school event, as Liediger told the press immediately after the prayer.

CP: Was it [Ernie] Leidiger that invited you?

BDS: He came to one of our events, and sat there and watched the whole debunking.

He knows what was done, he sat and watched the whole program. I think what happened was that it was brand new. Listen, when the media first comes down on you, it’s not a secure feeling.

We went through it, but the bottom line is I just don’t think he was really for it. But what was interesting is, when we did the event, he was there and he was the first one to stand up, “We need to get behind these guys. We need to stand up.”

CP: So Leidiger was at an event?

BDS: He’s seen the whole thing.

One of the documentary premieres. Which, by the way, is being attacked from, again, the homosexual communities without even seeing the documentary.

Bradlee Dean, an anti-gay preacher, told a radio show last week that House Speaker Kurt Zellers had asked to be on his radio show the week before Dean gave a controversial prayer before the Minnesota House. But according to a spokesperson for Zellers’ office, Dean was not telling the truth. Dean’s prayer, which took a swing at President Obama, was nearly universally condemned by legislators on both sides of the aisle.

“Speaker Zellers did not ask to be on Bradlee Dean’s radio show,” said Jodi Boyne, director of public affairs for the Minnesota House Republican Caucus.

Immediately after Dean’s prayer, Zellers told reporters that he wasn’t familiar with Dean’s background and the Speaker of the House condemned Dean’s prayer. Zellers also released a statement on Dean that read:

I respectfully apologize to all members in the Minnesota House of Representatives and all citizens of this state for today’s morning prayer. As Speaker of the House, I take responsibility for this mistake. I am offended at the presence of Bradlee Dean on the floor of the Minnesota House of Representatives. I denounce him, his actions and his words. He does not represent my values or the values of this state.

A request for comment with Bradlee Dean’s ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, was not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.

Controversial preacher Bradlee Dean says that House Speaker Kurt Zellers asked to appear on Dean’s radio show, the Sons of Liberty, the week before Dean gave a controversial prayer before the Minnesota House. Dean’s claim stands in stark contrast to Zeller’s words condemning Dean, as well as House leadership’s insistence that they weren’t familiar with Dean. Dean made his statement as part of a media blitz of more than two dozen radio stations where he defended his prayer and blamed “homosexual activists” for the controversy which continues to simmer. Zellers says Dean’s claim is not true.

On the Global Freedom Report last week, Dean was flummoxed about why Zellers condemned his prayer. Zellers told members of the House that he “denounced” Dean and that allowing him to pray was a mistake.

“I was actually denounced by Kurt Zellers, the Speaker of the House, and why he denounced me nobody knows. I have no idea,” Dean said. “What I do know, he doesn’t know me, and the week prior to that he was asking to be on our radio show here in Minneapolis.”

He added, “So we are all kind of taken back. As a matter of fact we have done 21 interviews from coast to coast and every show host has asked me the question, ‘What was the problem?’ And we are still asking the same question.”

Radio host Brent Johnson added, “Go ahead and invite him, after the fact, invite him on your show. Maybe he’ll answer.”

A spokesperson for Zellers’ office says Zellers never attempted to go on Dean’s show. Update: “Speaker Zellers did not ask to be on Bradlee Dean’s radio show,” Jodi Boyne, director of public affairs for the Minnesota House Republican Caucus, told the Minnesota Independent.

Dean has appeared on a two dozen conservative radio stations to defend himself, the prayer and especially Dean’s remarks about gays and lesbians in the last few weeks.

On HOPE FM 95.9, a Christian station in Forest Lake, Dean said he wasn’t targeting Obama when he said, “It’s not about the Baptists and it’s not about the Catholics alone or the Lutherans or the Wesleyans. Or the Presbyterians, the Evangelicals, or any other denomination, the head of the denomination and His name is Jesus, as every president up until 2008 has acknowledged, and we pray it in Jesus’ name.”

“I never meant to take a shot at Obama,” he said. “I’m not going to play your little political games. If you look at my prayer, in no sense of the word can you derive disrespect anywhere.”

He added, “If you want to split hairs, strain at the gnat and swallow the camel.”

He said it was Obama who said the United States was not a Christian nation.

On the overtly Christian nature of his prayer, Dean said, “We are not a Muslim nation. We are not a Buddhist nation. We are a Christian nation. We have to understand it’s not all of the religions of the world, that this is everybody’s country? No. When you go to Washington, D.C., Moses and the Ten Commandments are everywhere.”

Here’s part one of the interview:

And part two:

On the Joe Pags Show out of Houston, Tex., Dean said he never suggested that Obama wasn’t a Christian. “There was no implication on my part. I wasn’t taking a shot at Obama,” said Dean. “If you listen to the entirety of my prayer, I was unifying.”

He then said that American soldiers did not die for Americans who were not Christians.

“What did our military boys and girls die for? Did they die for other religions? Or did they die to uphold for the Constitution, so help me God? If we have foreign gods come in here, then what’s going to happen is everyone is going to want to implement their law. For example, the Muslims want to implement Shari [sic] law. Why? Because they think they have a right to do it. No, they don’t. Foreign people can come here and they are afforded asylum, but we serve the lord of lords, king of kings. They cannot continuously bring in their gods into our country and expect us to remain who we are as a people. We have to stand. We have to protect who we are as a people.”

Here’s part one of the interview:

Here’s the second half of the interview:

On the Shilling Show in Virginia, Dean told host Rob Schilling that “homosexual communities” were out to get him.

“How did we go from what I said in the prayer to ‘big bad Brad the anti-gay hate-monger,’ as they like to say. It’s not anti-gay. It’s anti-crime and pro-family. And it’s not bigotry, it’s decency,” he said. “My perspective is it’s character assassination by the homosexual communities, no ifs, ands or buts about it.”

He added, “We are turning into hell in this country.”

Here’s the interview:

WCCO’s Chad Hartman was the only interviewer to challenge Dean’s statements about gays and lesbian. He asked about one of Dean’s more incendiary quotes:

“Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America. This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination.”

Dean said he was simply warning LGBT people about Muslims.

“I’m warning the homosexual communities that the Muslims are calling for your execution,” he said. “They took what I said and they turned it up on its head, and they’ve been on attack ever since. I’ve debunked it, I’ve debunked it, and I’ve debunked it.”

Hartman then asked, “Did you also say that ‘gays will molest 117 people before they are found out?‘”

Dean said, “I was referring to pedophiles.”

“It was very clear you were talking about gays,” Hartman shot back. “Did you say that inaccurately? Should you have said pedophiles?”

Dean responded, “What I am saying is what I just told you, and I am referring from Dr. Paul Cameron’s quotes, his statistics.”

He added, “Why is the homosexual communities defensive about it unless it does concern pedophiles?”

Here’s the interview:

Part 2:

The decision to allow anti-gay preacher Bradlee Dean to give the opening prayer before the Minnesota House on Friday sent shockwaves through the Legislature, and the reverberations from that decision continued over the weekend. Democrats filed a complaint on Sunday after House Speaker Kurt Zellers moved to strike Dean’s name from the official record. Meanwhile Dean, after skipping his own press conference on the matter, took to the airwaves to slam Zellers for not defending him.

Dean said he didn’t understand why people thought he targeted President Obama in his prayer.

“I know this is a non-denominational prayer in this chamber and it’s not about the Baptists and it’s not about the Catholics alone or the Lutherans or the Wesleyans,” Dean said in his invocation in the Minnesota House. “Or the Presbyterians, the evangelicals or any other denomination, but rather the head of the denomination and his name is Jesus. As every President up until 2008 has acknowledged. And we pray it. In Jesus’ name.”

Zellers, R- Maple Grove, restarted the House session and brought in a chaplain to redo the prayer. He also condemned Dean’s prayer in a floor statement.

“Members, I can only ask for your forgiveness. That type of person will never ever be allowed on this House floor again as long as I have the honor of serving as speaker,” Zellers said.

“If Speaker Zellers does not stand for the Constitution, our veterans, the Founding Forefathers and the Christian God to whom he swears by an oath to uphold these very things, then I would say Mr. Zellers is not fit to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Minnesota,” Dean wrote on his website Friday. “Today Speaker Zellers exemplified a point I have made many times over in past years. When a little heat comes for taking a stand, diplomatic people immediately bend to the opposition. They fall all over themselves to apologize for something that they claim to stand for when speaking to their constituents. But when it comes to actually putting what they said into practice, they denounce the Constitution’s laws and the people’s principles who voted them in. How hypocritical.”

Dean then devoted his entire two-hour radio program to the prayer flap. He denied mentioning President Obama and compared himself to Martin Luther.

“I went into them chambers with total respect,” Dean told his listeners. “I feel like Martin Luther, innocently nailing the 95 theses on the wall, and I’m not even Catholic.”

“I didn’t say we weren’t a Christian nation, Obama did,” Dean said. “If you want to point the finger at someone denying Christianity in our country, you might want to talk to Obama about it, because I didn’t say it.”

Here’s audio of Dean saying he didn’t mention Obama:

Dean was poised to give a press conference on Friday afternoon to respond to the controversy, but instead he sent his sidekick in the ministry, Jake MacAuley, who also goes by the name Jake McMillian. Reporters noted that just before the press conference was called, Dean met with Tom Prichard of the Minnesota Family Council, a group that is pushing the anti-gay marriage amendment, as well as Republican Sens. Dan Hall of Burnsville and Paul Gazelka of Brainerd on the sidewalk outside the Capitol.

DFL Complaint

DFLers filed a “protest and dissent” complaint on Sunday after Zellers had Dean’s controversial prayer stricken from the record. Zellers said that since the House didn’t have a quorum when Dean said his prayer, that technically the House wasn’t in session.

DFL Rep. Michael Paymar of St. Paul initiated the complaint which was signed by DFL members of the House. The complaint — instead of Dean’s prayer — became a part of the House record.

The DFLers wrote:

“Pursuant to Article IV, Section 11 of the Minnesota Constitution, we the undersigned members register our protest and dissent regarding the selection of Bradlee Dean as Chaplain for the Day on May 20, 2011. Mr. Dean, by his own admission during the invocation, intentionally violated the House policy on offering nondenominational prayers. Mr. Dean has a history of making inflammatory, extremist, and prejudicial public comments about the gay and lesbian community.

In his conduct, Mr. Dean offended many in the House of Representatives and the public with his invocation. His reference to President Barack Obama and his religious views was misleading and disrespectful. While the Speaker of the House apologized to the body, we the undersigned protest and dissent the selection of Bradlee Dean as Chaplain for the Day. His actions brought dishonor to the Minnesota House of Representatives.

America and Minnesota’s greatness comes from a tradition of religious tolerance and respect and the pursuit of civil and human rights for all oppressed peoples. We forcefully protest and dissent the selection of Bradlee Dean as Chaplain for the Day. Furthermore, we the undersigned protest and dissent the action of the Speaker of the House in expunging from the Journal of the House any and all reference to Mr. Dean’s actions as Chaplain for the Day.

We request that House Leadership examine the process for vetting the Chaplain for the Day so that prayers offered on the House floor are nondenominational and consistent with the values of religious tolerance and respect for all Americans regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. This protest and dissent shall serve as the official recording of Bradlee Dean’s actions as Chaplain for the Day in the Journal of the House.”

A prayer at Friday’s session of the Minnesota House given by anti-gay preacher Bradlee Dean erupted a firestorm of criticism among DFL legislators and some in the GOP. Dean, whose fiery brand of anti-LGBT preaching riled opponents of GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer last fall, led the House in prayer, asserting that President Obama was not a Christian. Republican leadership, sensing controversy, asked the official House chaplain to conduct an unusual second prayer. Minnesota’s LGBT legislators said Dean’s anti-gay preaching “reveals the underlying hateful nature of the anti-gay constitutional amendment movement.”

In his prayer, Dean said, “I know this is a non-denominational prayer in this Chamber and it’s not about the Baptists and it’s not about the Catholics alone or the Lutherans or the Wesleyans. Or the Presbyterians the evangelicals or any other denomination but rather the head of the denomination and his name is Jesus. As every President up until 2008 has acknowledged. And we pray it. In Jesus’ name.”

According to Tom Scheck of Minnesota Public Radio, Dean was invited to give the prayer at the request of Rep. Ernie Leidiger, R-Mayer.

Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter, gave an impassioned speech on the House floor denouncing the prayer.

The controversial prayer did not mention LGBT Minnesotans, gay marriage or the pending amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, but DFLers and progressives seized on Dean’s past statements about the LGBT community.

Rep. Karen Clark, DFL-Minneapolis, one of the longest-serving LGBT elected officials in the country, and Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, that chamber’s only LGBT member, released a statement denouncing the decision to allow Dean to lead the prayer.

“In my 30 years in the House, I have never seen such a hateful person be allowed to deliver the opening prayer,” Clark said. “Bradlee Dean has a documented record of hate speech, and has suggested that extremists who call for the execution of American gays are morally justified. The decision by GOP leadership to allow his intolerance, fear and outright bigotry into the ‘people’s house’ is reprehensible. Minnesotans are a peaceful, loving and caring people. It’s this spirit of togetherness and shared hope
that the House of Representatives should strive to embody. The Republican leadership should be ashamed of themselves. It reveals the underlying hateful nature of the anti-gay constitutional amendment movement.”

Dibble questioned the timing of allowing Dean to lead the prayer.

“In this time of divisiveness, it’s disgraceful and appalling to see the Speaker of the House of Representatives the body that is supposed to represent all Minnesotans invite hatred into the opening prayer,” Sen. Dibble, a former House member, said. “Instead of providing a message of inclusion and hope, the House began this day with hate and discrimination. Mr. Dean has a long and well-known record of intolerance, something that should have no place in the legislature, let alone in a prayerful blessing. This morning’s action is a sad commentary on House Republican leadership’s apparent ambivalence for supporting the equal rights and beliefs of all Minnesotans.”

Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, called it the “most offensive ‘prayer’ ever,” and that it’s “never happened before.”

The Woodbury Bulletin reports that Rep. Greg Davids, R-Presto, leaned over and told a colleague during Dean’s prayer, “that is going to leave a mark.”

House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, took to the House floor to apologize for the prayer saying, “That type of person will never ever be allowed on this House floor again as long as I have the honor of serving as speaker.”

Zellers also released a statement on the matter, saying, “I respectfully apologize to all members in the MN House and all citizens of this state for today’s morning prayer. As Speaker, I take responsibility for this mistake. I am offended at the presence of Bradlee Dean on the floor of the MN House. I denounce him, his actions and his words. He does not represent my values or the values of this state.”

Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, the chief author of the bill to codify an anti-gay marriage law in the Minnesota Constitution, said, “I absolutely repudiate the man who spoke at the start of session and his message of hate. Respect and decency must rule!”

Bradlee Dean is no stranger to courting political controversy. His past statement, made on his radio program, that Muslim countries that execute gays and lesbians are more moral than American Christians was highlighted by detractors of GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer last fall after it was revealed that Emmer had donated to the ministry.

Dean’s website says he has hosted several notable Republicans on his radio show, the same show he frequently calls for the incarceration of gays and lesbians, including former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, U.S. Senate candidate Dan Severson, State Sen. Paul Gazelka, R-Brainerd, State Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, and Rep. Michele Bachmann, who has also raised funds for Dean’s group, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, on numerous occasions.

Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers told members of the Minnesota House that he would never allow Bradlee Dean or anyone like him to give a prayer before the chamber again so long as he is speaker. Dean’s prayer insinuated that President Obama was not a Christian and his past statements about incarcerating gays and lesbians sparked a firestorm of criticism on both sides of the aisle.

“Earlier today there was a prayer given by a man I personally denounce. The decorum and dignity of this body is my responsibility. I did not live up to that responsibility today. For that, I apologize. This is the people’s House. Each member deserves the dignity and respect of all of us,” he said. “Members I can only ask for your forgiveness. That type of person will never ever be allowed on this House floor again as long as I have the honor of serving as speaker.”

Here’s video of Dean’s invocation:

Republicans in the Minnesota House introduced three bills on Thursday that would put a ban on same-sex marriage into the Minnesota Constitution. The bill is a companion to the bills offered in the Minnesota Senate on Tuesday. Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, liked the idea so much, he’s offered two additional identical bills of his own.

HF1613 would ask the voters in 2012, “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?”

It was introduced by lead author Rep. Gottwalt and Reps. Torrey Westrom of Elbow Lake, Kurt Daudt of Crown, Mike Benson of Rochester, Mary Kiffmeyer of Big Lake, Matt Dean of Dellwood, Kurt Zellers of Maple Grove, Mary Franson of Alexandria, Glen Gruenhagen of Glencoe, Kathy Lohmer of Lake Elmo, Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa, Debra Kiel of Crookston, Peggy Scott of Andover, Bruce Anderson of Buffalo Township, Sondra Erickson of Princeton, Chris Swedzinski of Ghent, Bruce Vogel of Willmar and Ron Shimanski of Silver Lake.

Gottwalt also introduced two bills that were identical to the first, and he is the only sponsor of those two bills, HF1614 and HF1615.