The State Senate Finance Committee's Hearing On Inter-Agency Agreements (i.e., Gov TBag getting caught with his hands in the cookie jar is about to start.
The room is filled with lots of veterans, and many of them are none-too-happy with Gov Tbag channelling the Ghost Of Richard Nixon ("When the President does it, that means it's not illegal").
- Karl 'Turdblossom' Rove has a book out, is everywhere on corporate media, and remains pretty much a lying, pusillanimous swine. From Political Cortex.
- A report on a strange campaign to 'market' toxic sludge, from The Smirking Chimp.
- CNN has reached a new low, and can no longer be remotely considered a legitimate journalistic outlet. I base this on posts from Digby,here, and Media Matters,here.
(We're going to do what we can here at MPP to cover the local races. Expect more like this from MPP contributors. - promoted by The Big E)
In SD53B, Chris Knopf will try to nab the Representative seat away from Carol McFarlane. He can be successful. McFarlane may have cooked her own goose with her refusal to vote against Pawlenty's veto of the GAMC bill.
One week ago, on March 10, 2010, the White Bear Press published five letters to the editor regarding McFarlane's choice. She decided to vote for her party rather than what is right and decent. Since Carole McFarlane is actually a decent person, we can only conclude that her party affiliation is more important to her than her sense of decency toward the poor, the disabled, the homeless and the chronically sick.
To look at the content of the five letters to the editor, see below the break...
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) has spoken out about Republican abuse of the filibuster to obstruct absolutely anything the Democrats want. This time he's criticizing Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) for repeatedly blocking the basic work of the Senate for purely partisan reasons.
The Kentucky Republican battled Democrats on the Senate floor Tuesday to block two nominations to relatively backbench positions -- because he is opposed to a tobacco-related law passed by the Canadian Parliament (that's right, the Canadian Parliament). The use of such delaying tactics is not unprecedented in Senate history, but holding up such minor business stretches the purpose of the Senate's open debate rules to the breaking point.
"This is a perversion of the filibuster and a perversion of the role of the Senate. It used to be that the filibuster was reserved for matters of great principle," said Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) from the well of the Senate. "Some of my colleagues seem more interested in using every procedural method possible to keep the Senate from doing anything than they are in creating jobs or helping Americans struggling in a difficult economy."
(Huffington Post)
(Let's put some pressure on the Member from the Seventh District of Minnesota. - promoted by Joe Bodell)
With Dennis Kucinich changing his vote,(HERE), is there any way we can get Collin Peterson to change his? He is the only Democratic Representative from Minnesota to vote no on HCR.
Peterson's district has 11% of the population with no health care whatsoever. Only the the 5th and 8th have worse coverage rates than Peterson's district.(HERE) What do we have to do to get this guy to take care of his district? If you are from the 7th, please start calling, and call often! Thanks so much.
Please link here to contact his local and DC offices.
District Offices:
1420 East College Drive, SW/SC
Marshall, MN 56258
Voice: 507-537-2299
Lake Avenue Plaza Building, Suite 107
714 Lake Avenue
Detroit Lakes, MN 56501
Voice: 218-847-5056
Minnesota Wheat Growers Building
2603 Wheat Drive
Red Lake Falls, MN 56750
Voice: 218-253-4356
Centre Point Mall
320 4th Street SW
Willmar, MN 56201
Voice: 320-235-1061
DC Phone:202-225-2165
DC Fax: 202-225-1593
Update:
The committee on Energy and Commerce released a report for the effects of passing health care on every district. The benefits for the 7th Cd are amazing. See what Peterson is trying to block after the jump.
Ladies and Gentlemen, yours truly - the ol' TwoPutter - is Guest Hosting tonight's Wednesday Edition of "Minnesota Matters" on AM-950 KTNF, The Voice of Minnesota. I'll be joined in studio by ace field reporter and analyst, Dusty Trice!
Especially because the following quote is sure to be discussed:
"Children who are victims of failed personal responsibility are not my problem, nor are they the problem for our government." -- Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty, April 2001 - as quoted in the Aitkin Independent Newspaper (entire column available here)
So, again, tune in the radio today to AM-950, or listen live on your computer, here.
--We don't have much data in CD2.
--Tarryl Clark has opened up a big lead in CD6.
--We're going to have an exciting convention in CD3.
Based on the numbers we have in the Delegate Tracker, Hackett holds a lead of 31-17 among pledged delegates. Even if we're missing a few (which I'm actually fairly certain we are), we're still looking at more than a hundred uncommitted delegates to the CD3 convention.
So how will it shake out?
Your guess is as good as mine. Meffert picked up the first big labor endorsement of the race, with Teamsters Local 120 backing his bid to take on first-term Congressman Erik Paulsen in November. Hackett has countered with the DFL Veterans' Caucus and Stonewall DFL, so both will have organizational muscle at the convention.
It's genuinely tough to tell where the delegate population as a whole is. Team Hackett did a good job of hooking her strong supporters in with combined Rybak subcaucuses, which was the right move given Rybak's success in the west metro conventions, but Meffert's campaign has maintained since the first delegate totals started appearing here on MPP and elsewhere that they're getting plenty of supporters through subcaucuses that don't bear the name of a congressional candidate. There's plenty of room in the numbers for that to be quite a plausible assessment.
Our own TwoPuttTommy is supporting Maureen Hackett, but I'm looking forward to the candidate forum this weekend. As a delegate at the April 10th convention (and an uncommitted one at that), I'll be watching closely -- and if I can get wireless signal, I'll be livestreaming it for you folks too, wearing two hats at once and all that.
MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty isn't publicly scheduled to be on the road again, that I know of, until Sunday, when he's set to appear at North Dakota's state Republican Party convention.
Last week, Tea-Paw signed a letter sent to congressional leaders by 18 governors, to the effect that they should prevent the EPA from trying to do anything about greenhouse gases, lest the economy tank (presumably due to a shift to sustainable energy sources and the creation of green jobs).
In the past, Gov. Pawlenty championed state and regional approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. More recently, he has said a national or international solution is needed.
Joe Bodell did a righteous screed, yesterday, on TBag's line-item vetoes in the bonding bill. I'm just going to add a couple of notes and some dispassionate commentary, below the fold.
2012 Republican presidential candidate and absentee Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's stealing from the veterans to pay for a partisan staffer remains in the news. Legislators are readying bills so that this sort of theft can never happen again.
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the governor's use of inter-agency agreements to pay for staff positions in his office. The hearing will be held on Thursday, March 18, at 8 a.m. in Room 123 of the State Capitol.
...
As part of the discussion, the Finance Committee will take action on S.F. 3260, a bill authored by Sen. Rick Olseen, DFL-Harris, which would ensure that all money raised by the sale of Minnesota's Support Our Troops license plates goes towards helping veterans and military families in the state.
Earlier in session, lawmakers discovered that Gov. Pawlenty had transferred $30,000 out of the Support Our Troops fund to pay for gubernatorial staff and office functions both in Minnesota and Washington, D.C. Sen. Olseen and other lawmakers objected to the transfer, arguing that the Legislature established the Support Our Troops license plate program in 2005 to provide needed services to military veterans and their families.
Sen. Olseen's bill would not only return the $30,000 to the Support Our Troops fund and its designated purposes, but also require that the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over these funds be notified prior to any future transfers.
(State Senate Media Advisory email)
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) will be holding a tele-townhall meeting this Thursday about healthcare reform and it's imminent passage.
You may have heard that Congress is on the verge of passing historic reforms to fix our broken health care system. The House and Senate have both passed historic bills that will lower costs, protect people who have insurance, and provide coverage for the millions who don't. The next step is to get these basic reforms signed into law and build on that progress. As your Representative, I want to hear from you before Congress votes on health care reform legislation in the coming days.
I want to invite you to join me for a conversation about the health care reform legislation. I will hold a Telephone Town Hall on Thursday, March 18th from 7 to 8 PM. I will share a summary of what's in the legislation and answer whatever questions you may have. I am here to listen to you, so make your voice heard and join the call.
Rep. Michele Bachmann has accomplished nothing for her districts in the nine years that she's been in politics. That's State Senate and Congress. I mean this literally. I'm not considering resolutions as accomplishments. I'm not considering media appearances as helping her district (cuz often they're embarrassing). Zilch. Nada. Zippo.
However, her perfect record is in danger.
You might disagree with her about her contention that there needs to be a new bridge over the St. Croix river at Stillwater, but you have to admit that she's actually trying to accomplish something. She might actually do some work for her district.
Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann says she will ask Congress to intervene in the ongoing dispute over a new bridge across the St. Croix River near Stillwater.
(MPR)
But have no fear, people. Her immaculate record of accomplishing absolutely nothing for the people in her district will probably remain pristine. Which Democratic Committee Chair would even listen to her at this point?
MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty isn't publicly scheduled to be on the road again, that I know of, until Sunday, when he's set to appear at North Dakota's state Republican Party convention.
